Content marketing and what it is and what it isn’t.
- Blogging is not content marketing.
- Tweeting is not content marketing.
- Facebook advertising is not content marketing.
Of course the tools above could be what you use to implement content marketing, they are still only tools.
Content marketing has a problem, if everyone follows the same strategy, using the same tools, creating the same content, connecting with the same followers then you will most likely fail.
It’s not that you simply “do” content marketing. But that you must do it better than your competitor.
Not only that, but you must persuade the audience you are communicating with that your content is worthy of their time and therefore their tweet, link, facebook like, brand connection…etc.
Which highlights the two foundations of content marketing.
Communication and persuasion.
- You must communicate the message, clearly and effectively. You need to transport your message into the brain of the person you are communicating with. If this does not happen, you have failed.
- You must persuade the person you are communicating with to perform a specific form of action which will meet the objectives of the project. If you do not manage to persuade the minimum amount of people. You have failed.
Everything else, blogging, tweeting, networking…etc is an enabler to allow communication and persuasion to work.
This is what the foundational elements of content marketing are, communication and persuasion.
So when you try to improve your content marketing, don’t just focus on the using the tools, focus on the actual things that make up content marketing.
It is by improving your communication and persuasion skills, and then picking the tool for the job, that you get good at content marketing.