The Content Marketing Sacrifice
By Cerebra
Introduction
Content marketing has rapidly become a hot topic in both the marketing and media worlds, and for good reason. It is the phrase that best describes how the media world is changing, and how this change has presented an opportunity for brands to communicate with their target audiences.
This eBook has been written, not as a comprehensive guide to all things content marketing, but as an introduction to the topic and a guide to help you get started. No-one knows everything about this topic, and every day someone does something new and amazing that evolves our thinking on it.
We want you to be excited about the content marketing opportunity, and we encourage you to experiement and grow your story telling abilities as much as possible. Hopefully this eBook gives you enough of an understanding that it inspires you to invest the time, energy, thinking and budget into achieving incredible success.
Evolution Of Content Marketing
Content marketing isn’t particularly new. While the catch-phase has caught on recently and become a big buzz phrase, it has been in the making for a while. The primary reason why it is now on the tip of every marketer’s tongue is because, when done correctly, it is an incredible means for brands to reach their target audiences.
To better understand content marketing, it’s worthwhile first understanding how we got here. At it’s simplest, content marketing is a form or marketing that places content first. It involves brands creating and publishing, or promoting, content that, in itself, serves as the marketing.
Change In The Media
A major driver in the evolution to content marketing has been the rapid change in the media landscape. We have moved from a world where only a wealthy few could afford the tools and means to create and publish content, to a world where everyone with access to the internet can create and publish content. Former consumers have become both consumers and creators, able to produce their own content and share it with a potentially massive audience.
This shift has driven a change in brand behaviour. Instead of working exclusively with the dominant media houses that produced for television, radio and print, brands are now able to work with anyone and everyone, and even become publishers themselves. The opening up of the media has destroyed the established rules that brands were expected to follow, rules designed to support the business models of the established media.
Traditional media separated content from advertising, with content being independent and produced with the primary purpose of attracting and building their audience. This audience was then sold to brands in the form of advertising. The editorial wasn’t out of reach from the brands, but it did require the brands to earn coverage through public relations efforts. By having exclusive access to the content consuming public, publishers could set the rules and control the message. The change in the media landscape has been great for brands and content consumers, but hasn’t been great for publishing houses set on making money from advertising.
Control Of The Filters
One of the most marked changes in the move from traditional media to social media is the shift in control over content. Beyond access to the tools to produce, consumers of content now have a greater means to control the filters that allow content to reach them.
Previously, editors would filter through the thousands of pieces of content that hit their desks and they would choose what content made it to the readers, listeners and viewers. They had all the control, and if they didn’t deem a piece of content worthy, you didn’t get to see it. Now, not only can everyone produce and publish content, but consumers have far greater choice over what content they receive.
By choosing who to follow and unfollow, the consumer has greater control over their content streams. To reach a large audience, a brand needs to win favour with the public, not just the media.
To continue reading, download the full eBook from
cerebra.co.za.