At Blue Bee, we’re fully aware of the opinions, assumptions and myths surrounding digital marketing, and there are plenty of them. Some are widely accepted as fact, but when followed, they can detrimental to your marketing strategy.
So, we thought we’d put together our own public service announcement. Below are some of the most common and dangerous myths we regularly come across as a digital marketing agency, along with the reality behind them. By the end of this blog, you’ll be better equipped to move forward with your marketing with confidence.
Myth 1: Every Social Post Needs to Be Branded
This myth is probably the most counterintuitive. You’d think it makes perfect sense that every post should include your logo, brand colours and design elements to make it instantly recognisable. However, that isn’t always the case.
People are so used to seeing polished, corporate content, whether organic posts or ads, that they often scroll straight past it. The key to social media is to stop the scroll, and that often means doing something different. This is especially true on LinkedIn, where business-focused content is everywhere.
Personal, authentic and more human content tends to perform far better. Posts featuring people, real-time updates or behind-the-scenes moments are more relatable than highly designed, sales-led content. Quite simply, people engage with people.
We have seen plenty of evidence of this at Blue Bee. One of our clients, who installs LPG heaters in caravans and motorhomes, shared a quick, off-the-cuff post about a dangerous installation they found in their workshop. It was informative, slightly humorous and completely unpolished, and it nearly went viral. It achieved over 100x the reach and significantly more engagement than any branded sales post that month.
We’re not saying that branded content doesn’t have its place, it most certainly does. It helps install a sense of trust, looks professional and enhances brand identity. But it doesn’t need to be every post. Sometimes, a quick photo or video posted in the moment will outperform something far more polished.
Myth 2: SEO Is a One-Time Job
This is a big one! SEO can be a difficult to understand, but it’s a crucial part of any marketing strategy. They key to a good SEO strategy is consistency.
If you can perfect SEO and be consistently ranking highly for high-value keywords and search terms, then organic traffic can do a lot of the heavy lifting in regards to visits to your website and in turn leads, enquiries and sales.
However, just because your rankings are improving doesn’t mean the work is done. It’s the opposite.
Simply put, if you stop doing SEO, you start going backwards.
Just because you have got to number one on that key search term, doesn’t mean your main competitors aren’t working hard behind the scenes to take the top spot.
Google rewards fresh, relevant content, so you need to keep uploading those blogs and case studies, optimising those service pages and making sure all information is up to date and accurate.
With the added element of AI search and GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) it’s becoming increasingly important that content is fully optimised.
Myth 3: We Shouldn’t Post If We Have an Agency
This one blends in nicely with Myth 1. Just because you’re paying a marketing agency to do your social media, it shouldn’t make it a closed shop. At Blue Bee, we see the best results when our clients work collaboratively with us, especially with social media.
As we have seen with the earlier example, if there is something newsworthy and fun happening, or a great example of the work you do, don’t be afraid to go ahead post yourselves. Although, it is always worth double-checking with your agency to make sure they haven’t got something scheduled for the same time resulting in one or both posts getting lost.
You know your business better than anyone, so if something interesting is happening, don’t hesitate to share it. That might be a project update, a milestone or something a bit more informal from day-to-day operations. These posts often perform extremely well because they are timely and authentic.
Myth 4: All Content Should Be Sales-Focused
Ultimately it is sales that make a successful business, but making all your content sales-focussed won’t lead to them.
The golden rule when it comes to content marketing 80% value-led versus 20% sales-led. The more sales based, promotional content people are exposed to the more likely they are to switch off and ignore it.
The vast amount of your content should be educational, engaging and evergreen. Not only this type of content works best for SEO and GEO but also helps build authority and trust in your business. This could include insights, industry updates, case studies or behind-the-scenes content.
By consistently providing useful or engaging content, you position your business as knowledgeable and approachable. That way, when you do share a sales message, your audience is far more likely to engage because they already see the value in what you do.
Myth 5: More Content = Better Results
Quite simply, you need to prioritise quality over quantity. Posting content, whether on social media or on your website, can dilute your message and result in brand fatigue amongst your audience. One piece of informative, engaging, fun or personal content, is much more effective than five or six flimsy, promotional pieces posted for the sake of it.
You need to give your audience credit. They can be quick to recognise low value messaging that feels forced and repetitive, and they won’t hesitate to disengage. The more you can get your audience to engage with your content the more you will be rewarded in the algorithm and in search rankings.
The other reason to avoid too much content, is that it’s labour intensive. Having to come up with constant new ideas or new ways of delivering the same message is difficult and time consuming. Try focusing on one or two well thought out and delivered pieces and you will see the benefits.
Summing Up
What debunking these myths shows, is that successful marketing comes down to having a good strategy, creating high-quality content and staying consistent.
Whether it’s SEO, social media or content marketing, the businesses that see the best results focus on value and capitalise on things that work best.
That’s where working with a marketing agency like Blue Bee can help. If any of these myths sound familiar, get in touch with the team and we’ll help you build a clearer, more effective approach.
