What is content marketing?

Advertising and interruption marketing don’t work the way they used to. Today’s consumers have a natural filter for ads. So when they’re not in a context where they’re genuinely receptive to a promotional message, they’re very good at tuning it out.

And that’s a good thing — it forces brands to become more relevant.

Brands now need to interest their customers, not just try to sell them something. That’s exactly where the value of content marketing lies. Its goal is to build a relationship between the brand and consumers based on their needs and interests.

Content marketing, then, is an approach focused on creating and distributing relevant content rooted in a brand’s values, in order to attract, retain, and build loyalty among carefully defined audiences. The brand’s goal is to build a relationship of trust with the aim of influencing action, allowing this newly loyal audience to become repeat customers.

Content marketing is therefore neither advertising nor promotion; its main goal isn’t necessarily to drive immediate sales or transactions. Content is used to build and maintain a relationship with an audience, so that whenever a brand needs to send it a promotional message, the relationship is warm enough to justify that promotion.