Content Marketing for Dummies
John Wiley & Sonssumers, thereby directly or indirectly promoting a business, brand, prod-
ucts, or services. Content marketing occurs both online and offline, but the
free and simple tools of the social Web have opened up the ability for companies
of all sizes to compete alongside one another, not for market share but for voice
and influence.
Marketing a business using content isn’t a new concept; however, it has evolved
in recent years to mean far more than creating a company brochure filled with
overtly promotional messages and images. Today, content marketing focuses on
creating content that is meaningful and useful to consumers with promotion tak-
ing a backseat to adding value, particularly adding value to the online conversation
happening across the social Web.
To achieve success, companies need to engage consumers rather than interrupt
them. Consider a pop-up ad appearing on a website today. It wasn’t so long ago
that pop-up ads were all the rage among marketers. Today, they’re a sure-fire
way to annoy customers and cause them to turn away from your brand. Rather
than taking control of consumers’ online experiences, businesses need to enhance
those experiences, and they can do it with content that adds value and engages
consumers.