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It's All About the Content
Lately, I've been hearing lots of conversation about the concept of Content Marketing. First, I thought it was a little odd: In my mind, Content Marketing is nothing particularly new – I've been writing about it and creating it for years, both here and in past lives, back when it was still known as custom publishing, or branded content. But lately, it seems that there's been a seismic shift in thinking. These days, marketers are embracing the idea that marketing is so much more than broadcasting campaigns and messages that pitch a company's products and services. Instead, marketing is increasingly about consistently delivering great information to your customers and prospects. It's about giving them stuff they actually want to read, or view, and pass along to others. It's about teaching your customers something, about helping them do their jobs better. It's about you and your company being a reliable and trusted source of information – a kind of beacon among the broadcast noise. It's about engaging customers with your content – not interrupting them with your messages. You help them, you make them feel better, you might entertain them. And, in the midst of this, you are rewarded with business and loyalty. These ideas aren't only mine. I learn a lot from Joe Pulizzi, who runs a rich and amazing site that's dedicated to content marketing. And next week, December 4, he'll bring his wisdom to the MarketingProfs audience as well, in his online seminar, Content Marketing: How to Position Your Company as a Trusted Expert Resource. I'm moderating – so I hope to see you there! p.s. I was at Hubspot's Cambridge office last week to talk about Content Marketing (and some other stuff). See the video here. p.p.s. Are you on Twitter? Be sure to follow me there at twitter.com/MarketingProfs.
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