By Rex Hammock, CEO
(This Idea Email is part of a new series of “explainers” that will answer some of the questions we often receive about various forms of content used by marketers to create opportunities, solve challenges, build long-term relationships and provide a myriad of other solutions. A version of this Idea Email was published on October 12, 2010.)
Since the earliest days of using the term “content marketing,” there has been confusion and debate over what the phrase means. In an article for the Content Marketing Institute, author Michael Brenner explains that one reason for the confusion is that “using content for marketing” and “creating content” mean different things.
As Brenner writes, “Content marketing is about attracting an audience to an experience (or ‘destination’) that you own, build, and optimize to achieve your marketing objectives. … With content marketing you are attracting an audience to a brand-owned destination versus interrupting or buying an audience on someone else’s platform.”
I like Brenner’s definition, but I’ve come to learn that the horse is out of the barn when it comes to trying to define something that encompasses all human expression and creation.
Companies need content for training and sales materials and helping customers understand how to use their products.
At Hammock, we often create content that sits outside of what some people think of as content marketing. For example, we regularly create sales presentations and sales enablement content; customer welcome kits and onboarding material; bylined articles for leadership to place in industry publications; and internal letters to employees.
Content becomes content marketing when it is used in specific ways that are related to marketing. But “corporate content” isn’t always “marketing content.” In a future explainer, we will explain how we help clients create and manage content in ways that are both marketing and corporate.
Image: Getty Images
About Hammock Healthcare Idea Email | This post is part of Hammock’s award-winning Idea Email series. Idea Emails are sent every other week and share one insightful marketing idea. Idea Email comes in two flavors: Original and Healthcare. To subscribe to the original Idea Email (general marketing ideas), click here . To subscribe to the Healthcare Idea Email (healthcare marketing ideas), click here.