Is Content Marketing just '%&*@$!+' ?

This blog in Marketing Week by Mark Ritson on content marketing caught my attention recently because aside from the funny headline, which I have subsequently 'sanitised', the author makes some very valid points. He argues that whenever he looks at content marketing in any depth, he emerges feeling very old and cynical as there’s no substance to it as a discipline.

To a large extent he’s right, it is the latest big buzzword but we mustn’t get too caught up by the terminology. His observations are valid and they emphasise that the vast majority of content out there is what Mike O'Brien, my tutor at the IDM described as U-TOPIC (i.e. irrelevant because it’s just puff about the company that no-body wants to read) and USELESS. However, there is also lot of really good content out there – I use it all the time for my work and in my daily life. A good example are all the fantastic yoga bloggers on YouTube to whom I owe my daily opportunity to practice. Thanks to their content marketing, it is possible to develop an amazing knowledge of postures and build all round fitness, essential if like me you don't have the time to attend local classes.

Marketers and PR specialists need to put more emphasis on developing content that is USEFUL and ideally, facilitate opportunities for creating content that is USER GENERATED. Focus on this rather than get sucked into a hamster wheel of churning out large volumes of material that no-one is ever going to notice, let alone become engaged by. Blogs some of my clients publish in their newsletters are good examples and the feedback from editors whose publications they contribute to demonstrate their impact. Sharing their knowledge for free online, significantly increases their SERPS rankings and get them a steady stream of inbound enquiries each month.

And as Mark highlights, content marketing is nothing new, especially in B2B industries. Neither is thought leadership marketing for that matter. It used to be called issues based PR and it’s really all to do with building trust in a brand. In seeking to educate and inform, a brand can potentially go beyond simply disseminating overtly promotional information and in doing so, can try to win the trust of consumers. Over time, they come to associate the brand with valuable information and so they are a natural consideration when drawing up a supplier shortlist.

So let’s not be sidetracked with terminology or buzz and just focus on the important bit, the audience, and being useful and helpful. If you question how to do that first and foremost, the content marketing strategy will fall into place very nicely.

Learn more about my B2B content marketing and pr services.