What Is Content Marketing? Better Yet, What Should It Be?

The marketing industry is in a state of accelerating change. That much is clear. More and more channels and platforms are emerging for marketers to use to connect and do business with audiences. Audiences have a glut of programming choices. And there is much more data available to marketers that reveals audiences’ intentions and preferences.

Coincidentally, the adoption of the term “Content Marketing” continues its increase. However, the growing demand for this approach to marketing is bifurcating. On one end you have marketers applying content marketing with the same mindset they’ve approached advertising, looking only to improve their engagement with consumers. On the other end you have marketers genuinely looking to deliver a wholly different level of value to their audiences. Unfortunately, the latter kind of content marketing is still in the minority.

Consequently, content marketing is getting commoditized, and this can be attributed in large part to a poorly planned, poorly articulated and inconsistently applied label and definition. A good portion of its application doesn’t reflect the innovation and progress the industry is acclaiming. This poses a threat to content marketing, as it is at risk of blending into the mainstream of marketing communications.

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