Content marketing definition

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.

Instead of pitching products or services, content marketing provides relevant and useful content to your prospects and customers to help them solve issues in their work (B2B content) or personal lives (B2C content).

Effective content marketing requires a documented content marketing strategy. Building one doesn’t have to be complicated. Read How To Write a 1-Page Content Marketing Strategy: 6 Easy-to-Follow Steps to learn what questions to ask and how to develop your strategy.

Why use content marketing?

For one thing, marketing today is impossible without great content.

Content should be integrated into your marketing process, not treated as something separate. Quality content is part of all forms of marketing, including:

We asked marketing experts about the role, importance, and challenges of content in 2023.

Here’s what they told us:

What are some examples of brands using content marketing?

CMI research shows the vast majority of marketers use content marketing. In fact, it is used by many prominent organizations in the world, including:

It’s also developed and executed by small and mid-sized businesses around the globe. Even government agencies are getting on board.

Here’s some advice from John Gonzalez, who leads social media content for Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District:

Why? Because it works.

Looking for definitions of the key terms used in content marketing? You’ll find them in our Essential Content Marketing Glossary.

How does content marketing support the bottom line and customers’ needs?

Wouldn’t it be great if your customers looked forward to receiving your marketing? What if when they received it (whether through print, email, social channels, your blog, or website), they spent time engaging with it? What if they anticipated it and shared it with their peers?

Go back and read the content marketing definition one more time. Notice the phrase “relevant and valuable.” That’s the difference between content marketing and informational spam sent by companies trying to sell first rather than help first.

When businesses create excellent content marketing, they can expect one or more of these four benefits:

Content is the present – and future – of marketing

Ready to learn more? We can help. Here are a few popular ways to dig in:

If you have questions about content marketing, don’t hesitate to get in touch.