How to solve the content marketing dilemma (part 1)
There's a new buzz word running around marketing communications circles ... but it's an old craft dressed up in an internet party dress.
Reader, meet 'Content Marketing'.
Content Marketing is from the same buzz word family as 'Thought Leadership' (Listen to the interview about Thought Leadership with Matt Church). But we shouldn't be too harsh on them just because others have pushed them into the limelight and achieved celebrity status. In fact, they both have very strong pedigrees ...
Content Marketing happens - just as the name implies - when you create and distribute relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience with the objective of driving profitable customer action.
Long before it got its new internet persona it was known by many different names. See if you recognise any of these aliases ... custom publishing, custom media, customer publishing, member media, private media, branded content, corporate media, corporate publishing, corporate journalism and branded media.
Content Marketing is the art of communicating with your clients 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 content strategy is the belief that if businesses deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, they ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty. And they do. Some of the biggest names in business and consumer marketing successfully employ Content Marketing, including P&G, Microsoft and Cisco Systems.
In fact, a 2010 study of 1,124 B2B marketers revealed that nine out of ten companies are already utilising content marketing in some form to build their business. And King Fish Media research reports that marketers believe Content Marketing is 18 times more effective in actually determining ROI than traditional advertising (74 percent to 4 percent).
But the hard part is always creating that relevant and valuable content we mentioned earlier. We've all seen it. The print or email newsletter that looses steam around about edition three and is quietly put down soon after edition four.
Take heart, because it is possible to create your own content that will both provide value and be relevant to your clients. Look out for part 2 of this article that gives you ten tips to get you started ...
About the author: Brad Entwistle is managing director of imageseven, an integrated communications and design firm. You can email or call Brad on 08 9221 9777.
