Content Marketing

               
        As someone still exploring all the different areas of marketing, it's always really exciting to get the opportunity to get to hear someone pitch why they think their field is the best. The biggest reason for this is obvious: who is in a better position to talk about something than the person who gets to do it everyday? Listening to a marketer, or anyone for that matter, talk about something they love is indescribably more interesting than listening to someone who works for the sole purpose of leaving at the end of the day.
        This is why I want to talk about content marketing. Two amazing staff members from Purple Moon Media in Orlando were guest speakers in a class of mine a few days ago. They got to talking about their area of expertise, content marketing. Guest speakers are always really interesting, and I always take some useful information away, but this presentation really made me think about the goals and methods of marketing in general. Content marketing focuses on creating interesting and useful content for the public to consume and share, thereby driving digital traffic.
        This kind of marketing really gets my vote for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, it works. I can't think of a better way to make someone interested in something than by treating them like the educated consumer they are and just talking about the product and its features. When you have knowledgeable buyers, you sell more. The other thing I really like is that it's not as disingenuous as a lot of marketing. I see a lot of strategies focused on the quick sell at the expense of the consumers and it makes me extremely uncomfortable. Content marketing takes a different approach; it creates long term success by actually creating something valuable for people that they can share. It drives online traffic because it's exactly what people want to use the internet for, sharing ideas.