This Entrepreneur compilation of experts discussing marketing trends to avoid is packed with advice from some industry luminaries, such as Peter Shankman and Jim Joseph. But the quote that caught my attention was this one from Ilise Benun of Marketing-Mentor.com:
“I’m peeved most lately by all the people treating ‘content marketing’ like it’s brand new. We’ve all been marketing ourselves with content forever! I’ve been publishing an email newsletter, doing speaking engagements and writing articles and books for more than 20 years with the goal of sharing useful information and positioning myself as an expert. It used to be called ‘marketing.’ Now it’s ‘content marketing’ and everyone thinks they have to do it. Not true! It’s not right for all businesses, and it’s a lot of work!”
Yes, content marketing is all the rage all of a sudden, but she’s so right that we’ve been doing this forever. In PR, we create content and try to get others to create it, as well. This all feeds content marketing. Every press release, every news article, every success story, every newsletter–it’s ALL content and it ALL emanates from the marketing/PR department.
The other point she makes is also important–let’s break it down into two parts. First, she says content marketing isn’t right for all businesses. True again. Should every company be spending time and money creating content? No, probably not. For some, there are wiser ways to spend the marketing dollars. And then, beyond that, she says, “….and it’s a lot of work!” Right! I think this can be glossed over at times. There are a lot of businesses who hear about content marketing and think, “Oh, yeah, that’s the ticket!” without realizing how much work it actually is. When you think about the hours it takes to create an article or write an e-book, for example, it’s extremely time consuming and requires someone with the right skillset to collect the information, write it, edit it and then issue it via the right channels. And then, will anyone respond? Will anyone read it and become a prospect or a buying customer? There’s no guarantee. For smaller businesses, it can be an overwhelming prospect. (In an upcoming post, I’ll provide some examples of content marketing that’s simple to do for small businesses.)
So, it’s good to remember that content marketing has been with us for a while now. You’re probably already doing it, whether you call it that or not. And while it’s great for some companies, it’s not for everyone. Take time to think and carefully examine your needs and goals—and your budget—before you hop on the content marketing bandwagon.
