What is Content Marketing, and Why You Need It

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Imagine a relationship with someone that only gives you attention when they want something from you. Doesn’t sound very enjoyable does it? Sounds a bit one sided? Sounds a bit like that one girl in school that seemed like maybe she was actually interested in your jokes that one time but then really it turned out that she just hadn’t finished her math homework and wanted some help… eh hem… but I digress.

We know this one sided relationship doesn’t work in our personal life but unfortunately, this is how many traditional marketers treat their potential customers. They only communicate to get something from you. Traditional publicity marketing typically takes the form of TV commercials, magazine ads, radio ads, posters and billboards. Usually, this type of marketing comes as an interruption to the show you were watching, the article you were reading, or the game you were listening to. Generally speaking, people don’t like interruptions... so let’s not be one.

Enter Content Marketing

In the age of Netflix, Youtube, and Spotify, customers are choosing what media they want to consume. They won’t put up with interruptions and annoying ads. The basic idea behind content marketing is to provide valuable, relevant, and consistent content to your audience. And that’s it. Well, that’s mostly it.

You still have your product or service to sell but the goal of content marketing is to create a relationship of value and mutual sharing with your target market. What are the things they care about? What makes them laugh? What makes them cry? How is your company, product, or service in alignment with their values? Once that connection has been formed, your potential customers will be far more likely to choose your product or service over competitors they have no relationship with.

This is the first post in a series about content marketing. Subscribe to our feed for more great content.

This entry was posted in Brand, content marketing, Business