Alan Draper
If you search “content marketing” on Google, you get about 560 million results.
There are events dedicated to content marketing, and folks like Brian Clark, Joe Pulizzi, Marcus Sheridan and others are huge proponents of the term.
So, big business then. And yet…
Is there really such a thing as content marketing? Or is it just marketing, plain and simple, and a facet of a bigger picture?
According to Wikipedia:
…content is information and experiences that may provide value for an end-user/audience in specific contexts.
So, by definition, content is information that may help in the decision-making process.
Marketing, on the other hand, is a different beast altogether. The core reason for marketing to exist, in no uncertain terms, is to make a buyer fall in love with something enough to purchase it.
This “something” can usually be categorized into three clear sections: product, service, expertise.
The Product and Service Angle
Product and service is straightforward. You make something, or provide something, and charge people for that. This could be footwear, a meal, cleaning services, or a million other things.
But it’s still the product or service that’s being marketed.
Sure, you might write a blog post about your industry and why your offering is better than anyone else’s.
Or you might create a video to showcase a design and embed on your website.
But that creation of content is simply a tactic in the bigger picture of marketing. The content is created to market the end product – you’re not marketing the actual content.
If you were, the message would be something like “See how cool this video / blog post is – buy the content now!”. Which wouldn’t make any kind of sense.
Switch to a marketing message, though – “The X1Z Thingymajig – Order Yours Today!” – and it’s back to using the content to drive sales of the product or service.
The Expertise Angle
One area where content marketing could be seen as a standalone solution is that of expertise (particularly on business blogs).
To show you’re someone a potential customer should do business with, you share your expertise and knowledge with your audience. You might provide white papers, or ebooks, or webinars, to help propagate that expertise and separate you as a thought leader (if that’s your goal).
The thinking here is, if the audience sees you know your stuff, they’re more likely to do business with you than your competitor.
But then, there’s that “do business with” phrase again. Because, as much as a business or consultant can say they’re offering expertise for the good of their readers, there’s always another end goal in sight – attracting business for your offering.
Sure, you’re offering free content as opposed to charging for it – but it’s with the goal of marketing your businesses through less in-your-face means. The end goal is still dollars in the cash register for whatever it is you’re selling (product, service, consultancy expertise).
Content is Still a Key Tactic
Now, I don’t want this post to come across as dismissing the importance of content when it comes to marketing your business. As someone who’s consulted clients over the years on the benefits of content, as well as building a platform with Jugnoo that makes it easier to do so, I know the value content brings to the table.
A successful blogger outreach, for example, can reap rewards at a far reduced cost to a business than traditional print or media ad buy can offer. A timely video can capture the hearts of your customers more than a radio ad ever could. And all the other pieces of content that get discussed when talking about content marketing all offer value too.
The thing is, though, it’s still just another tactic. The content is part of the overall strategy to get a customer to buy into your offering, and a solid part at that. But a standalone? I can’t see it.
Besides, when was the last time you ever saw a major news release and promotion for your latest blog post..? ;-)
This article was written for Business 2 Community by Alan Draper.
Learn how to publish your content on B2C
Join our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage
Add B2C to your Google News Feed
Interesting article. I’m not sure you’ve entirely understood content marketing in the way that it’s used these days though, Danny. The give-away clue was in your proposed title for “content marketing” of a product, which is just plain old sales drivel. Why anyone would engage with a sales piece is beyond me. Would I share that article? Not on your life. Would I find it useful? Probably not. Would I trust it to be unbiased? Not even a little bit.
Successful content marketing isn’t about selling. It’s about providing something useful or entertaining for your readers that relates to your subject matter, though not always directly. It may sometimes relate to a product, but more often than not, successful content marketing works just as well with a brand name on as it does without one.
Sorry, Danny Dude, but I think you’ve missed the difference between actual content marketing, marketing, and just sales drivel. Obviously all will be based in content of some sort, (how else could you possibly communicate?), but the content of that content, how it’s presented and where it’s spread to is the major and all-important difference between it being a successful piece of content marketing and just another sales piece.
And in answer to your final question: what about Seth Godin, or any other recognised thought leader? Once you’ve established yourself as a leader in your field, whatever it is you have to say becomes newsworthy simply because you’ve said it.
Hi Suzannah,
As the article mentions, I’m not dismissing content marketing as just a sales tool (aren’t all forms of sales a marketing tool, anyway?). And as someone whose helped clients and employers (as well as myself) use content to promote a product or service (or even expertise), I definitely know its strengths. :)
For the most part, content doesn’t simply market on its own. It needs to be compelling – and that’s a completely different skill set altogether. Having said that, even crap content can soon find itself in front of a million eyeballs, due to some canny marketing campaigns behind it.
That’s where I’m coming from – I’m not diluting the power of content per se, but it is still just another facet in a multifaceted practice.
And I still don’t recall any major news releases (mainstream media) about a blog post, even Seth Godin. ;-)
Thanks for the thoughts, Suzannah, appreciated.
Danny. I have to go along with Suzannah on this. You are correct about the Wikipedia definition of content. But look again and search under “content marketing”.
I think it’s about the emphasis between the two words. “content MARKETING” would seem to me to fit what you’re describing. “CONTENT marketing” on the other hand implies that you are marketing you’re content – not using content to market your product.
Marketing your product – through any vehicle is about trying to attract buyers who are currently or soon to be in the market for what you sell.
Marketing your content, I think, is about marketing you or your company to people who may or may be currently interested in what you sell. It’s about positioning yourself as a (choose one) Expert, Resource, Thought Leader in your industry. If the public of potential clients comes to see you as a resource that they can come back to again and again – the hope is that when they ARE in the market you will be two steps ahead of competing vendors of your product.
That’s the way I see it – I could of course, be wrong.
Hey there Rick,
I actually had a look at the Wikipedia entry as I was writing this piece and it encouraged my thoughts. :)
hanks for dropping by and such a thoughtful response (no surprise there!).
For me, it comes down to definition and distinction, because you’re not silo’ing content marketing into its own bucket, but showing that it’s a strong part of an overall marketing strategy.
Take the example of Brian Clark and his Copyblogger media, It’s still expertise or products that are being marketed. Or Junta 42’s case, where it’s (partly) connecting vendors with clients, as well as educating on content’s role. So, you’re marketing the product (people and jobs) as well as expertise, by using content.
Same for Brian – people buy Genesis, or ScribeSEO, or Premise, etc. All hard products, sold by a combination of great educational content and technical build.
Perhaps there’d be less confusion if we just umbrella’d it all as Marketing, and then we have various resources at hand to help any campaign succeed, based on the audience and vendor needs?