When planning your content marketing strategy, it’s easy to get confused by marketing jargon. There’s a lot of information (and misinformation) out there about what is best but how can you tell what is true and right for you?

We’ve curated a list of some marketing myths that you need to stop believing if you want to build a marketing strategy that has an impact. (You’re welcome!)

Myth 1: The purpose of generating content is to attract new customers.

Yes, you should be aiming your marketing towards new customers, but you should also develop content for your existing customers. Retaining a customer base is as much a priority as obtaining a new one. Your messages should also be tailored to each platform and the customers that follow you there. For example, your audience on Instagram is likely to be very different from those following your brand on LinkedIn, or to the subscribers of your email newsletter.

Myth 2: High website traffic means success.

If this is the sole measurement you want then, yes, more traffic equals success. However, that only shows a small part of the picture. It’s not just about how many people are on your website but their behaviour when they get there. How long is a customer spending on the web page? What are they doing? Where do they go next? If someone were to walk into your shop, turn around and immediately leave, you’d want to find out what went wrong, so your website should be no different.

Myth 3: Email marketing is outdated.

We get it, some people don’t like marketing emails in their inboxes. But every day people sign up to get content they want from brands they like and trust. When used correctly, emailers can be a great way of communicating with your customers and can also be used to gather information that will help you create a bespoke experience. This medium is perfect for self-promotion and brand awareness, for regular information updates and to encourage loyalty and retention.

You can also schedule emails to announce exciting new product launches, with a direct link to your storefront or web page. The key to a good email marketing campaign is building a feeling of community and making sure that people are excited when they see your brand’s email appear in their inbox.

Myth 4: I don’t need any video for my digital marketing campaign.

With the rise of TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Meta Reels, this is definitely something we would recommend including in your campaign. An untapped audience who are ready to consume your media with product videos and entertaining them into a purchase or visit to your webpage means you’ll be one of the first people they think of when they need that product or service.

It’s also worth noting that landscape video is the most consumed video type. Vertical videos can offer messages quickly, filling a smartphone screen to grab immediate attention. Landscape videos offer a more immersive viewing experience, with visually driven longer-form content.

Myth 5: We don’t need goals, if our campaign does well then it’s worked.

Woah, woah, woah. This one offends us! The answer is yes, you absolutely do. Goals form your marketing strategy, giving you a direction towards your long-term plan and they also allow you to measure customer responses, traffic, interaction, follows, feedback to see if the overall campaign had impact.

There are of course many more myths to explore, but it’s important to stay informed and avoid falling prey to marketing trends that don’t suit your plan so that you can create a solid and effective marketing strategy that meets your business needs.

What marketing myths would you like us to debunk next?