Beginner's guide to content marketing

We’re the generation of YouView, Sky+ and Tivo - a generation so busy, so bombarded and so impatient that we can pause or record live telly and fast forward the adverts to save us time and a headache.

Once upon a time it was easy to market to consumers with nothing more than a smiley-faced Mum holding up her sparkling clean dishes or a gentleman beaming in a thick knitted jumper. They communicated a promise of domestic bliss, respect from your neighbours and that your children won’t turn into terrifying psychopaths.

In a time where there was still want, a time where countries were still recovering economically from a world war, direct marketing in magazines and billboards, on tv and radio, sold an end to every normal person’s own personal misery - even if that misery was just finding a hole in the toe of your sock on the train to work.

In the 1950s direct advertising worked. Some of the iconic examples of this era will never be beaten, so why try?

The world is noisier than ever before

In the developed world, particularly in the USA and Europe, the level of want is less than post-war recovery in the 1950s. In fact, according to PC Mag, the average person carries 2.9 devices (please don’t attempt to chop up your iPad!) around these days.

Instant access to information via pocket electronics is something my toddler godchildren take as a given and, aside from ruining the entire concept of the pub quiz, creates a perpetual noise that assaults the brain 24/7. A brand screaming at us to “Just Do It!” or repetitively whining “Maybe it’s Maybelline?” is going to have a hard time cutting above all of the tweeting and twittering that goes on these days, let alone managing to convey to Joe Bloggs the benefits of refilling his printer cartridges rather than just popping out to Staples and buying brand new ones.

That’s another thing. So many messages are being pinged back and forth every minute of the day that apathy is now very commonplace. If you manage to get your direct advertising message through then people still won’t care. Brands with the same products and services make a plethora of similar claims anyway (Asda price match against Morrisons who price match against Tesco etc.) and with decades of sell, sell, sell filling our brains you can’t blame the general public for feeling a bit meh.

Coke are the masters of online and offline content marketing in 2013, producing named bottles that are now being tweeted worldwide. Kraft recipes are a prime example of genuinely useful content that their target market are likely to share.

Content marketing is about being useful, not pushy

Content marketing is a new way of getting a business’ message to the right audience. It’s more subtle, more friendly and a lot more down to earth. It’s not about bombardment, it’s about helping people. It doesn’t take the high road, it takes the tube with everyone else.

The core aim of content marketing is the same - to sell products and services - but this is done by creating great content that people want to use and share with their friends.

It’s not invasive, it’s not made up quasi-science (we’re looking at YOU, L’Oreal) or trashing a competitor. In fact some of the best pieces of content marketing don’t even have the product or brand directly mentioned. It’s just about great pieces of content that are fun to play with, beautiful to look at, or useful to those in the same industry.

Particularly successful online content marketing campaigns can include (but are not limited to):

• Articles and blogs (like this!)
• Infographics and images
• Tools and resources
• E-books and white papers

Why does it work?

It works because it’s not about shouting the loudest and interrupting someone’s day. Instead it fits in with their life and appeals to them as an individual. Obviously no one piece of content will appeal to everyone, but then no product or service is relevant to everyone either. Content marketing is targeted but subtle. Like a ninja.

It also works because of the prevalence of social media which makes online sharing a cinch. You don’t have to wait for your friend to finish the book they’ve been raving about to borrow it, they can just send you a link and you’ve got instant access. The more people that see your great content, the more they are exposed to your brand. And that gives your business more gravitas and traction to compete in the muddy, messy field that is sales.

Stay tuned for more marketing marvels...

This month our blogging will be focussed on brilliant content marketing, revealing the secrets of the most successful brands as well as how content marketing can improve your search engine rankings as well as your reputation.

How do the best B2B marketers generate sales through social media?http://t.co/iMGzakPpr2 #socialmedia #contentmarketing #socialmarketing

— Curve Agency (@CurveAgency) August 14, 2013