A little while ago I wrote a post about content marketing. (It’s four lines long. I’ll wait here if you want to read it.) It’s one of those hot marketing terms that writers scoff at. In its simplest terms content marketing is about providing content that your audience wants. I use the term “providing” because this content does not have to take the form of the written word. It could be a podcast, a video, an infographic, a slidedeck, you get the idea. Writers find “content marketing” laughable because the first thing they tell you in any creative writing class – know your audience. After all, why would you bother writing something they don’t want?
But for marketers and communications people everywhere, we’re just learning this. What we are coming to realize is the consumer (or curator, as seems to be more fitting a description now) is really the co-creator of any content he or she digests. We may “birth” this content by capturing it in some media form but those who share it and care for it grow the piece to something much greater than we envisioned (if we are only that fortunate). That’s why it’s essential to make it as appealing as possible to the audience. It’s no longer about you and your personal battle with muses, it’s what your community/audience wants in the form they want it.
It’s not content marketing – it’s just good “writing.”
