I admit it: I’m a content junkie. It started when I was a child, and I’ve chosen to spend most of my adult life creating different types of worthwhile content for a variety of audiences. I wear a button proclaiming, “I still read books.” I tend to be online seeking useful content too many hours per day, too many days per week. I drop off to sleep at night with my latest novel in hand—you get the idea.
So, it’s only natural for me to help spread the word about the benefits of content marketing—that is, providing valuable, compelling content with the goal of educating (and even entertaining) people to help them solve a problem or enable them to make a good decision.
What Content Marketing Is—and Isn’t
If you Google “content marketing” you’ll find roughly 523,000 sources that you can access for information about the topic. But some resources are always more valuable than others, so to get a quick take on content marketing, here are five resources to help you get up to speed on what content marketing is—and isn’t.
1. According to Wikipedia, “Content marketing is an umbrella term encompassing all marketing formats that involve the creation or sharing of content for the purpose of engaging current and potential consumer bases. … Content marketing products frequently take the form of custom magazines, print or online newsletters, digital content, websites or microsites, white papers, webcasts/webinars, podcasts, video portals or series, in-person roadshows, roundtables, interactive online [activities], email, events.”
What content marketing is not: Traditional marketing and promotional materials such as advertising or sales brochures
2. Joe Pulizzi of Junta42 (a vertical search site dedicated to content marketing) provides this perspective: “Basically, content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is non-interruption marketing. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are delivering information that makes your buyer more intelligent. The essence of this strategy is the belief that if we, as businesses, deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, they ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty.”
What content marketing is not: Delivery of information whose only purpose is to pitch or sell products or services, rather than educating buyers over time
3. According to well-known blogger and speaker Chris Brogan, “Content marketing is the ability to produce useful and entertaining information that is worthwhile on its own, but that might also be useful towards a sale or subsequent action. For instance, a really good review of a product from a trusted source is content marketing.”
What content marketing is not: Information that’s perceived as biased or influenced by a particular business with the intent to sell product, rather than objective content that adds to the general knowledge base of an industry
4. Content Marketing Today maintains that to become a great content marketer that can attract and retain a large customer base, think like a publisher:
- First, define a critical group of buyers
- Second, determine what information they really need and how they want to receive it
- Third, deliver that critical info to that core group of buyers in the way they want it
- Fourth, continually measure how well you’re doing and adjust as you go
What content marketing is not: To-the-masses broadcasts that fail to consider whether individual recipients want to receive information and engage with your business and if so, how they want to receive your information
5. And from Valeria Maltoni at the Conversation Agent blog: “Content marketing is … the opposite of interruption marketing. You create great content that attracts customers and prospects, educates them, and potentially engages them in a conversation with you.”
What content marketing is not: One-way communication that emanates from your company—content marketing sets the stage for meaningful conversations and engagement between your business and your customers and prospects
How Your Company Benefits from Content Marketing
Providing valuable and compelling content that is relevant to your customers and prospects and helps them shine is the epitome of good customer service. It says, “We care about you, and our first priority is to help you get the information you need to be effective—whether or not you choose to do business with us today or in the future.”
Providing useful content on an ongoing basis builds trust with your audience and helps establish your company as an authority in your industry. Significant information gets passed along, providing you with more opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations with your customers and prospects—conversations that often open doors to talk about your products and services when it’s appropriate to do so, on an individual basis.
Finally, content marketing is economical. You can use well-crafted content in multiple ways—in your blog, email newsletter, website content, Twitter posts, podcasts, presentations and more. And content marketing provides the means to keep your online presence fresh (which the search engines like) and with a little help from SEO, enables more customers and prospects find you through organic search. Really, with so many benefits and so little to risk, why not give content marketing a try?
