What is content marketing?

Content marketing involves producing useful information for your target audience, which also supports your business goals: blogs, e-books, videos, presentations, tutorials and more.

Content marketing versus digital marketing
Digital marketing is an umbrella term for marketing which is based on digital technology. Although content marketing does not have to be digital, digital technology is crucial to most of its forms. In fact, four aspects of digital media have contributed greatly to the rapid growth of content marketing:

• With digital technology, you can create and publish content in a relatively simple, quick and often inexpensive way.
• Nowadays, many people go on line to look for information. If you create valuable content in your target audience’s language, you will attract people who are using Google, Bing or another search engine.
• The Internet has changed people’s buying behaviour. They use the Internet to find out what a product or service entails, to compare prices, to learn about other people’s experiences, etc. If you create good content, you can play a role in this process.
• Social media offer new opportunities for distributing content. If you have strong content, people will share it through social media.

Content marketing versus traditional marketing
Traditional marketing methods, such as advertising, are not very effective on line (here are some alarming stats) because they are based on the principle of interruption. The TV commercial that interrupts your movie is perhaps the best illustration of that principle. It gives you content that you don’t want when you’re watching a movie. Content marketing seeks to turn this logic around. It is based on what your target group wants. It offers content that is relevant and useful.

Content marketing is often a form of permission marketing. If you send your content to someone, it is because you have permission to do so. And if your content is valuable, you will have obtained that permission easily. Unfortunately, many companies fail to create really valuable content. They continue to talk about themselves and their products instead of focusing on what their target audience wants. Think of content marketing as being 80% content and 20% marketing.

Content marketing versus social media marketing
Content marketing relates to social media marketing in at least three ways:

• If you focus on the needs, desires and interests of people, your content will be discussed and shared online.
• You can publish microcontent directly on social media channels. Twitter updates and other forms of microcontent only work if you focus on your customers, and not on promoting your products or website.
• Social media listening is a great way to find out what your audience is talking about. You can use this information to create really relevant content.