August 5

What is Content Marketing?

Consumers have learned to ignore and essentially shut out the traditional practice of marketing. They can easily skip TV ads, they often disregard magazine advertisements, and they are incredibly adept at ignoring all forms of ads while viewing information online. Smart marketers recognize that traditional marketing is becoming less and less effective, and are actively seeking a better way to communicate with their tribe. Content marketing is one way that is working out very well for those who invest in this art form. Since many people requested an explanation and a definition of the phrase, I thought I'd share it with you here.

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience so you can drive profitable customer action.

Sure, that may sound like a mouthful but, I'd like to break it down into its core components and offer my perspective in the hope of removing some jargon and improving clarity.

First off, Content Marketing is, without a doubt, an approach that requires a road map or blueprint in order to be effective with both the creation and the distribution of content. A mindset focused on tactics is helpful in execution phases but, success requires planning - and our experience has shown a definite need for a strategic approach to this art form.

Second, in order to be effective, your content must be useful to your audience. I would even go so far as to claim that the content you create and distribute needs to be valuable as well as relevant to your audience. And, your message needs to be consistent over time. Sure, you can pivot. But, keep in mind, that your content is not going offline unless you flip the switch.

Third, many clients came to us after they failed with content marketing projects. Most considered content marketing analogous to an advertising campaign where there is a defined start date and an end date. The thing is, content marketing needs to be treated as a conversation aka a program. It is ongoing, continuous publishing and there is no end date when you're doing it right! Other clients created incredible content but did not reserve funds for distribution or promotion and several even refused to track engagement! They simply treated their efforts with digital publishing as if it were a printed magazine. Why do I mention this? Because tracking is key to knowing what your audience is doing with your content. Successful marketers know how long each piece of content is viewed. They know what content converts best. They understand who their target audience is, where they are located and what they are most interested in and they use this insight to create even better content in a process we call lather, rinse, repeat. But, I digress... Distribution and promotion are key to successful content marketing programs so, remember to reserve at least 16% of your budget for promoting and measuring your ROI.

Fourth, the content that you create within the scope of a content marketing program needs to be oriented toward the needs of a specific and clearly-defined audience. It can not be watered down for general audience consumption if you want to rank among the most successful content marketers in our network. The best content marketers start a conversation with a very clearly-defined audience in places where this audience hangs out - and these skilled marketers know how to continue that conversation on many platforms, devices and channels to increase the probability of conversion and thus ROI for their brands. It is truly a form of art.

Content marketing’s purpose is to attract and retain customers by consistently creating and curating relevant and valuable content with the intention of changing or enhancing consumer behavior. It is an ongoing process that is best integrated into your overall marketing strategy, and it focuses on owning media, not renting it. If you remember that the end result is driving profitable customer action, you're in good shape for proving ROI at the same time.

Content marketing can also be described as the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is permission based, non-interruption marketing. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are delivering information that makes your buyer more intelligent and gives you insight to regularly improve your results. The essence of content strategy is the belief that if we deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, they ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty. And they do. Content marketing is being used by some of the greatest marketing organizations in the world, including Microsoft, IBM, Go Pro, RedBull, TED, Audience Bloom, Cisco, P&G and John Deere. It’s also developed and executed by small businesses in all parts of the world. Why? Because it works.

In the forward of my book, Don Peppers writes: "I believe that true content marketing provides your prospects and customers with useful, entertaining, or interesting information designed to help them solve the problems they're trying to solve or meet the needs they want to meet.”

I believe that content marketing is so vital to reaching your audience and engaging them in conversation that the phrase 'content marketing' will eventually evolve (or revert) back to the single word 'marketing' in the coming years.

Your thoughts?


Tags


You may also like

Want to Create an NFT?

Want to Create an NFT?
{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}

Get in touch

Name*
Email*
Message
0 of 350