3/25/2010
What Is Content Marketing?
Content Marketing Must Be Targeted
“People don’t know what the word “content” means. I wrote a book in 2005: Cashing in with Content. That book is just as well written and groundbreaking as The New Rules of Marketing and PR, but it suffers from a horrendous title. Because nobody associates content with marketing despite many people trying to make that association, including me. I am trying not to use phrase “content marketing” because many people don’t know what ‘content’ means.”
Well, when people like David Meerman Scott avoid the phrase content marketing, it gives me pause. However, since I have a box full of business cards with the title Director of Content Marketing, I’m thinking maybe I should take a stab at defining what content marketing is.
In my view, content marketing is simply this – Using words intelligently and systematically to engage your market with purpose.
Words. Digital content marketing has two (I would argue) equally important targets – search engines and humans. Words must attract the attention of search engines to draw people to your content. Words must hold the attention of people to motivate them once they begin reading.
Intelligently. Writing effective web content requires a knowledge of SEO (see above) along with an understanding of grammar and persuasive composition techniques. Intelligence also means selecting the right media to convey your content – a task that becomes more challenging by the day as social media sites and blogs expand and fracture and evolve.
Systematically. If I’ve learned anything over the last 10-15 years in web marketing, it’s this. Content marketing is not a thing, it’s a process. It’s not a web page or a blog post. Instead, it’s a circle of strategy followed by execution followed by analysis followed by strategy.
Engage. I choose this word very carefully. We all know we don’t talk at customers, right? Today, a great deal of content marketing is highly conversational. We seek to engage customers in conversations, possibly in real time. But even content that is not designed for conversation – such as an email blast – must engage the reader. Content must communicate a call to action or evoke an emotional or intellectual response.
Your market. The web is all about niches, so content marketing needs to be clearly targeted. With whom do you want to communicate? This is the first question I ask a client when we begin talking about a new project.
With purpose. The second question I’ll ask on a new project – What response to your message are you looking for? Is it a call to action, such as placing an order or downloading a PDF? Or is it an emotional response, such as becoming more enthusiastic about a brand? Without purpose, there’s no strategy and no ability to evaluate performance.
I highly doubt this little blog post will bring worldwide illumination, but should we throw in the towel on content marketing as a term and a discipline? I don’t think so. If anything, content marketing is becoming more important and central to marketing efforts of all kinds. Greater and greater percentages of company spend are being directed to digital marketing, and what is digital marketing about if not content?
12 Responses to What Is Content Marketing?
Brad,
Thanks for the definition and for the explanation. The explanation was interesting until I came to the “with purpose” stuff — then it really clicked. Good stuff.
Hi Bill, Great input. Maybe “with purpose” needs to be earlier in the definition. Thanks for stopping by – glad you got something out of all this.
Thanks for the explanation – I was wondering what you were going to be up to! Plus it got me to click over here and have a look
Site is looking great. I miss the Forth Rail bridge though…
Hi Joanna, The bridge was wonderful … and I must confess that until now I had no idea what or where the bridge is! I’m glad it’s Scotland.
Excellent points all, Brad! Though some may disagree, I still believe content is king in the online environment. No matter what a company is attempting to market, compelling content is the component that will attract visitors to the company’s website in the first place, make them want to stay once they’ve arrived, and keep them invested in the company’s offerings and interested in its marketing message. After all, marketing has always been about content, and human nature being what it is, that reality is hardly likely to change anytime soon.
Thanks for a great picture of the precise traits that comprise effective online marketing content.
Jeanne, While I enthusiastically agree with you about the kingship of content, we have to admit that high quality content in and of itself is not always what attracts people to the content. Paid and organic search techniques make quality content visible to people who are looking on it, and even social media communication, where word of mouth referrals of great content are prevalent, can and should be optimized to a certain extent.
Most definitely, Brad. Content that no one can find will do little good for a company’s marketing campaign, that’s for sure! Perhaps it would be better to say that quality marketing content and well-thought-out search engine/social media marketing strategies go hand-in-hand toward creating a successful marketing campaign and that neither will be totally effective without the other–which basically recaps what you’ve said in this post!
Hello Brad!
I absolutely agree with the concept of content marketing (as you know) and your definition is a good one.
My main concern is that if you ask the layperson, they just don’t have a clue what the term means. I tried to push that rock uphill for a few years and failed. However, since then people like you as well as Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett had grabbed onto the idea so there is hope for understanding yet.
Take care
David
David, Thank you for coming by, and even more thanks for blazing the trail. Your encouragement helps keep me banging the drum!
Brad, old habits die hard but I believe your post will help. For the reasons David cited, I have abandoned use of content marketing and other terms as well. I have even adjusted my own value proposition in layman language, even when their language may not be entirely accurate. It’s an interesting time and I congratulate on your new role and the passion with which you are leading the way.
Hi Karen, Flying in the face of popular opinion, David Meerman Scott, and you – what am I thinking?
Your comment, which makes perfect sense, made me realize why I’m so intent on sticking with “content marketing.” Euphemisms, inaccurate language, bother me to no end. What it is is content marketing. Until a better phrase comes along, I’ll continue in my Howard Cosell role (remember him?) and tell it like it is. Maybe it’ll do some good. Your encouragement means a lot – and I know in your heart you are a (ahem) CMer.
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