Content Marketing: Bringing Marketing Back to its Core

An educated consumer is a better consumer.

Content marketing is a hot term in the marketing world right now. Although it isn’t a new invention, it’s a new way of looking at marketing strategy as a whole. It’s the act of educating your target audience via valuable content: ebooks, infographics, blogs, survey results, video, podcasts. The goal is that your audience will appreciate your content and will eventually reward you with their business – because you have proven yourself as an expert on alleviating their pain.

Advertising tactics in the past were very “in your face” and repetitive. Today advertising tactics are about educating and persuading through words.

Content marketing doesn’t involve re-creating the wheel. Honestly, the only thing content marketing does is bring branding and marketing back to its core: consistency, differentiation, and customer focus.

The goal is creating content that your target audience will appreciate and putting it out consistently so that your audience can eagerly anticipate it. Differentiation is achieved through the quality of the content. The more your audience earnestly waits for your next segment of content, the more you will set yourself apart from your competitors.

Can you imagine someone actually looking forward to your next blog post before you’ve even written it?

It’s a different way of engaging your customer base. Is an ad really still an ad now? Or, is it content marketing? It’s probably both. If it hits a nerve and makes people think, then it’s content marketing. If it doesn’t, then it’s just advertising.

Content marketing won’t be the death of advertising. The lines are simply going to continue to blur.
There are countless ways to distribute your content. Blogs, videos, movies, magazines, podcasts, e-books, infographics, and whitepapers are all ways to get it out, and there’s more channels being created all the time. As long as what you are giving away is free, valuable, and specifically focused on your audience, then the method is up to you.

Most companies utilize multiple methods because not every person learns in the same way. Some prefer infographics while others may just want to listen to a podcast on the way to work. Finding the right mix involves devising a marketing strategy that is intelligent and reactive – cue content management. If something doesn’t work, try it via another channel.

One thing is certain – managing and producing quality content is the future of marketing. An educated consumer is a better consumer.

Conveyance Marketing Group is a marketing and web development company with a passion for delivering strategic, sustainable and affordable marketing and web solutions to start-ups and small businesses. Our service offerings include video, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), inbound marketing, graphic design, logo design, advertising and web design. Our creativity is limitless, let us help accelerate the growth of your company! Contact us today for more information on how we can help you.