I just read this post Why Companies That Say They Want Social Media Really Want Content Marketing on the Marketing Trenches blog. Will Davis suggests that many marketing people don’t really get what content marketing is – they think they have to amp up their social media marketing, when what they need is good content.
He has an interesting point – especially as today I also read a blog post by Joe Pulizzi: Custom Content Marketing Surges with CMOs, Consumers. Joe sites recent research by the Custom Content Council that indicates that 33% of Chief Marketing Officers are enthusiastic about custom content marketing – up from 17% in 2006
While the title spins this as terrific growth, there’s another way to look at it: 2 out of 3 Chief Marketing Officers still aren’t convinced about content marketing – or, more likely, don’t know what you’re talking about when you say content marketing.
“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate” – Cool Hand Luke
Social media certainly has more buzz than content marketing, but when it comes to marketing, the two are tightly related and overlapping disciplines. In many ways, it’s like the different layers of the application stack; you need them all to get your message through.
Clearly, social media marketing is more than just creating great content. And social media is only one of the many ways that you can use the great custom content you create. But from a marketing perspective, without great content social media is just chatter.
Anne Janzer 