Though a fairly recent term, “content marketing” describes a strategy that is taking over traditional marketing.  Jeff Korhan gives a brief overview here.

Content marketing is an interesting practice.  It is something some of us have done well for most of our careers without even knowing that it had a name.  Seriously, I have an MBA and I don’t recall learning about it then, or throughout my 30 years as a marketer.

Content marketing to me is not traditional marketing, which may explain why it was never covered in my formal studies. Nevertheless, it is a practice that you can readily learn, and one that is essential to your success with social media.

Content is the Currency of the Web

To succeed in business, you learn to follow the money.

Entrepreneurs and small business owners intuitively know that if you want to be successful in business you follow the money. You learn how it is made.  This is accomplished by determining who has a lot a lot of it and then figuring what they did to get it.

Money is the currency of the business world.

It is a measure of doing something right – providing a product or service that others find interesting, useful, attractive, entertaining, or that is otherwise deemed desirable.

Content is the currency of the social media world.

It’s what drives it.  It is the value that others others find interesting, useful, attractive, entertaining, or that is otherwise is desired.  This means content is the currency that translates into that legal currency that everyone understands.

If you don’t have valuable content that others find desirable, there is no reason for the community to gather around you – whether you are charging for it or not.  This is one of the fallacies of social media, that just because something is free we are all going to want it.

I think they have a name for content without value – it’s called spam. While you may not consider yourself a spammer, you should consider that spam, chatter, and social media noise are all just degrees of the same thing.

Content Marketing Only Starts with Value

I was in Vegas recently and at the baggage carousel there was a handful of change scattered on the carpet.  I watched as others glanced at and just as quickly ignored it. While there was only about one US dollar there, there was still value – but nobody made the effort to take it.

There is a message there for all of us, maybe several.

It isn’t enough to just have good content.  You also need a couple of other things, one is a content distribution system, such as Twitter or a blog.

Imagine if that dollar of coins was setting in a neat little pile on a shelf or ledge where we were all waiting and could easily access it without effort.  I guarantee you someone would have scooped it up.

That’s distribution.

Now imagine you have left the airport and have checked into your hotel.  As you are getting settled into your room you notice a handwritten note on the nightstand from the staff.  It says, “Here is a dollar. It’s not a lot of money, but it’s a lucky dollar.  Good luck and enjoy your stay.”

Posted with the permission of Jeff Korhan. To read the rest of this article please click here,  http://www.jeffkorhan.com/2011/03/what-is-content-marketing.html

(Photo by antigone78)