When I was a kid, my grandfather had a bakery.
Every month, he would get a stack of magazines from bakery supply companies. Each was full of recipes and plenty of tips on how to run a profitable bakery.
That’s my earliest memory of content marketing.
Many think content marketing is a recent development that has its roots in the online world. But the fact is that content marketing has been around for hundreds of years.
Joe Pulizzi listed early examples on the Content Marketing Institute website. Among them were:
- Poor Richard’s Almanac, published in 1732 to promote Ben Franklin’s printing business.
- The Locomotive magazine launched by the Hartford Steam Boiler and Inspection Company. It is now the oldest company magazine published under the same name.
- Procter and Gamble’s production of radio programs in the 1930s. Those radio programs and their sponsorship gave rise to the term “soap opera.”
Content marketing can take many forms. But no matter what form it takes, content marketing has a single purpose:
- Provide your audience with helpful and valuable information that encourages them to act.
What Is Content Marketing?
Before I get to what content marketing is, let’s talk about what it is not. Content marketing is not sales copy. It is not pushy, persuasive, or have a big sales offer.
Instead, content marketing helps you build a relationship with your target audience. It uses educational and relevant information to help your audience solve their problems.
The magazines from bakery supply companies helped my grandfather better serve his customers. They also taught him to be more effective in how he operated his business. He continued to do business with those companies in return.
Content marketing can take several forms, including:
- Blog posts
- Video
- Podcasts
- White papers and guides
- Articles
No matter what form it takes, content marketing serves a defined purpose:
- It attracts the attention of a target audience to build relationships
- It encourages consumers to taek your desired action
What I Deliver
When we work together, I deliver more than content.
If we are working on a series of blog posts, I also include:
- Photography suggestions
- Meta descriptions for each post
- A Twitter post you can use to link to the content
- Longer posts you can use for Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media.
For audio and video content, I can recommend production companies you can use, or I can outsource for you.
I can do the same for printed pieces because I have worked with many talented graphic designers.
Let’s talk about how we can work together on your content marketing program. Call me at 267-987-9531, or email me here.
