Is It Time For a Redefinition of Content Marketing?

How good is the fit between what you’re offering and the needs and desires of human beings?

When it comes to entrepreneurship, it all narrows down to that question’s answer.

The greatest sign that a company is in trouble is when it needs to put a lot of effort into explaining why and how its offerings will benefit a certain group of people. Into how it will provide value.

It amazes me that despite of the fact that I’ve been working for several years in content marketing – which involves, of course, reading lots of blogs and websites in the field – I’ve never heard any mention to Theodore Levitt.

That guy is the author of Marketing Myopia, possibly the most important article ever written about marketing.

On it, Levitt analyzes how different kinds of companies failed because of one same reason: they didn’t succeed in defining what business they were in. As an example, he mentions railroad companies, that saw themselves as being in the railroad business, while actually they were in the transportation one.

What would make those companies see in advance what they should have seen? What would make them not suffer from marketing myopia?

Having the customer as the focus.

When the focus is on selling, the objective of a business is to convert its offerings into profits, and salesmen try to sell as much as they can.

When the focus is on the customer, the objective of a business is to satisfy human needs in the best possible way – and salesmen are the ones who should try to understand what these needs are. In this scenario, the profit will come as a natural consequence.

Again, the initial question: How good is the fit between what you’re offering and the needs and desires of human beings?

In the light of what was said before, let’s take a look now at the definition of content marketing.

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action. (Content Marketing Institute)

A strategic marketing approach… To attract and retain an audience… To ultimately drive profitable customer action… It seems that content marketing is being taken as one more selling mechanism – one among other ways through which businesses could profit. Today, content marketing is about selling – not about the customer.

I’m afraid that this definition – and the content marketing practice itself – are no longer working. They are in a limbo where no value is provided and the “profitable customer action” is happening to few – in spite of the largely available tips (oh, tips…) on how to increase ROI.

Let me be quite clear regarding my opinion.

I believe that content marketing – and inbound in general – consist of a remarkable advance in marketing, mainly if compared to outbound practices. Companies should reach their potential customers through non-invasive ways and should try to provide value to them.

And the issue is being exactly “providing value” (expression that became such a cliché already). I think folks tend to forget what’s the real meaning behind that: providing real, concrete, tangible benefit. Providing something that your audience really wants when it’s online.

What’s the end goal of being connected to the Internet?

It’s common knowledge that the largest majority of users – those users that you’re trying to get attention from – go online without a clear goal in mind. They check news, emails, social networks, click on some link that might appear… the online experience is basically random.

Users go online to see… stuff.

I’ve read a great article by Brian Lenney at Inbound.org that addresses how sick we all are of listicles and how-tos. Let me reproduce a part of the article’s conclusion:

So when you’re thinking about what to write or how to “connect with your market” stop thinking about how you could write one of those “how to” articles and start thinking about the stories you have to tell about your brand:

• Why you do what you do?
• Why are you in business?
• Who have you helped?
• What makes you get up in the morning?
• What do you value?
• What makes you unique?
• What have you done to change your market?
• What are you passionate about?

The author concludes by suggesting that content creators should shoot for authenticity.

I highly appreciate that effort – I believe that if content creators follow those “guidelines” the content marketing field would be better for all of us.

But the question is: would it be better enough? Or as good as it could be?

I don’t think so. We all can do it even better.

“Start thinking about the stories you have to tell about your brand”… “What makes you unique”… “What have you done to change your market”…

Every story has a hero. Do you see how the author puts the brand as the main reference point?

Why not to start thinking about the stories you have to tell about your audience? What makes people from your audience unique? What have people from your audience done to change each of their environments?

It’s time to give people the stuff they want.

And to define content marketing not anymore as a “strategic marketing approach” (as it was put by the Content Marketing Institute).

But as a service.

Now we have not only SaaS – but also CaaS =)