Content Marketing

Content marketing is a subtle approach to promoting a brand by publishing material online or offline. Successful content marketing is dependent on the brand’s ability to deliver a message that the reader wants such as entertainment or useful information.

There are many ways to do content marketing; offline channels usually take the form of events and printed media such as newspapers and magazines while online forms take the form of content published on websites, blogs, newsletters, and articles. It does not seem like direct marketing to the reader; in fact it only seems like marketing because a brand is identified as the content author. Content marketing is typically integrated with services or websites so that it doesn’t stand out from other forms of communication placed there in terms of placement, style, or format. Brands use content marketing to provide valuable information to the reader.

Before a brand can engage in content marketing they must first study the dot com disclosures that have recently been updated by the Federal Trade Commission. These are a set of online advertising guidelines which are applicable to content marketing. Some of the stipulations include that all advertising claims should be supported by evidence and must be truthful, and that any endorsements should be honest from actual customers.

Content marketing can be integrated with the overall online marketing strategy. The use of an editorial calendar is recommended to enable companies to plan ahead and know when it is timely or relevant to publish content. There are many elements that constitute successful content marketing but it is always effective when multiple communication channels are used, including brand websites, social media, giving and getting interviews, and guest posting. While all these channels don’t necessarily have to be used it is important to ensure that content used on various sites tie in with the others so that all content posted is supported.

In addition, content management can greatly help make a content marketing plan more effective. Brands can leverage technology to ensure that information is properly managed, regardless of what form it takes: text, multimedia files, photos, and audio to name a few. Content management should be handled depending on a company’s business goals.