Content Marketing - Strategy or Jargon?

Today, there is a lot of buzz about “content marketing.”  If you Google the term, there are 51.4 million hits.  There are sites that tell you how to do it, articles defining it, step-by-step guides and more (51 million + more). 

A few years ago, I wrote a blog (some might call it a rant) about “thought leadership.”  My feelings about the term content marketing are similar to what I think of the term thought leadership – it’s jargon not strategy. 

According to the Content Marketing Institute “Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action” 

What public relations or marketing plan doesn’t focus on attracting and retaining a clearly-defined audience and driving profitable customer action?  And, isn’t creating relevant and consistent messages at the heart of every successful pr campaign?  As PR and marketing professionals, we help our organizations and clients identify and fine tune relevant, consistent messaging and then strategically seek avenues to deliver those messages to the appropriate audiences to achieve successful results. 

We don’t just create “content.” 

My friend and colleague, Rex Hammock, founder of Hammock, a custom media and content solutions firm recently wrote that his customers “don’t need more content - they crave help and insight and anything you can do to assist them in reaching the outcome they seek.” 

I agree.

Just as with social media, the content you create and deliver needs to be part of the bigger picture.  Make sure your message and audience are clearly defined and that all of your marketing tactics are tied to clear, measurable objectives. 

Rant over.