Six Reasons You May Not Be Ready for a Content Marketing Commitment

We can all remember when Traditional Marketing used to be the apple of every business’ eye. It was all about your placement in the newspaper or a magazine and the number of flyers you could shove into the hands of anyone and everyone passing by. But as society becomes more and more technologically advanced, consumers have an expectation to be wooed before they even see you coming.

Most of you have heard of him, but have you met the new and improved, ever-attractive Marketing guru in town? You’ve probably listened to his alluring podcast or watched his videos. Maybe you’ve even skimmed his infographic. His name is Content.

The Content Marketing Institute defines Content Marketing as “a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.” Really the only difference between Content Marketing and Traditional Marketing is the removal of “valuable” from the definition.

Now, don’t get me wrong — there is still plenty of value in Traditional Marketing. The true magic happens when Traditional and Content Marketing combine.

But how do you know if your business is really ready to move on to Content Marketing? It’s hard enough to juggle a relationship with Traditional. Now you’re supposed to date two different tactics?  This is starting to sound like an episode of “The Bachelor.”

Here are six things to consider before developing your business’ relationship (strategy) with Content Marketing:

• If you’re going after him only because everyone else is, he might not be for you. Content should be about building customers’ trust through educational content and fresh perspective.

• If you don’t have enough time to spend with Content, he might not be for you. Think of it as a seed. Prepare the ground, plant the seed, water the seed, wait, water, wait… wait some more… watch the seed bloom. Content Marketing takes time.

• If you’re doing it only because it’s a low-cost alternative, he might not be for you. Sure, the ROI is great, but Content is no cheap date. It takes time and money to really make him into the Man he can be.

• If you’re looking for a quick sale, he might not be for you. Content is about fostering relationships with your customers before they’re even customers.

• If you think you can hit it out of the ballpark without a strategy, he might not be for you. Know exactly what you want to say, when you want to say it, and what you’re going to say next.

• If you don’t feel like celebrating every single victory, he might not be for you. Content is about setting KPIs, hitting milestones and exploring what should be a lifelong commitment to each other.

If your business isn’t quite there yet, that’s okay. Content Marketing isn’t going anywhere. He knows you’ll come around when you’re ready and he’ll have a rose waiting.