Is the Hype Machine threatening to overwhelm the value of content marketing? According to Website Magazine’s March 2013 article on the Top 50 Content Management Platforms: (which we are thrilled to be included in), “The only thing really ‘new’ about content marketing is the buzz that the approach generates among new media professionals today.” That is a pretty bold statement, and one that I don’t find it to be incredibly accurate.
Content didn’t just become popular because “overnight the industry realized” the meaning of content. No. The need for content has evolved due to a number of reasons marketers are adapting to every day. Here are just three:
- Google’s Increasing Algorithm Changes
All marketers used to have to do was optimized their webpages and poof they would show up on the top of Google. This was all fun and games until the system started getting abused with keyword stuffing, hiding content, link farming, and gateway pages. In their ongoing attempt to rank quality content higher, Google is changing their Algorithm ever more frequently. Now it’s more important that we produce more content more frequently and more relevantly to get recognized in Google. Because if you aren’t on Google, you don’t exist.
- Social Media
Yes, I know its 2013 and we are all sick of this over-used buzzword but this has a lot of relevancy for my point. When social media was getting hot, one of its biggest purposes was to position your business in the industry as a thought leader and engage with prospects. Really learn to walk the talk, and vice versa. This helps build organizational transparency which helps “build more meaningful consumer relationships.” But one thing missing from the big social media buzz in those years was the need for content, lots and lots of content. Now that consumers are used to consuming and gaining content through many different mediums, it’s a train that’s hard to get off.
- New Gadgets
CES this year wasn’t a show stopper but one thing that did ring true is that there are new types gadgets being created. Awesome? Yes. But this means these new platforms will need new ways to disperse the content to those platforms. And more and more content so that viewers are using their gadgets more regularly. What’s the purpose of a tablet or high-tech car dashboard if you have nothing to play, read, or view on it?
As new mediums, gadgets, and Google changes are made more and more regularly, we as marketers are really just struggling to keep up with this beast. This is why it’s important to have software that can help us keep up with the best and more important for us to keep our ears to the ground.
Marketers, it’s your turn, tell me if you think Content Marketing is just another “buzz” word or if you think it’s still evolving and probably won’t stop anytime soon. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.
