What is content marketing? Where is he from ? What is it used for ? If questions have been swirling around in your head since you heard this term, this article is for you. It will help you understand the essence of content marketing, which is a form of communication that is very popular with consumers: 68% of them spend time on useful content produced by brands (source) . Definition of content marketing Content marketing (or “content marketing”) consists of forging a non-commercial link with your various targets through a free content offer that meets their expectations. It is aimed at both B2B and B2C audiences and generally favors written media, even if other formats can be used. Above all, it is intended to be instructive (which does not prevent it from being fun!): it provides its targets with reliable and professional information related to a specific theme.
A little history Unsurprisingly, content marketing comes to us from the United States. What we know little about, however, is that it is much less recent than we think. Its origins date back to the 19th century . In 1895, the agricultural equipment companyJohn Deere– and not its founder as we sometimes read, who died in 1886 – launched a Kuwait Email List called “The Furrow” (“Le Sillon”, in French). Distributed to farmers, this "tailor-made" publication gives them advice on their activity, which has been greatly disrupted by the industrial revolution in progress. The first content marketing publication was born! The furrow magazine is now on the web The furrow It was followed by many others, which we invite you to discover.
Purpose of content marketing The end goal of content marketing is to unlock new business opportunities. It does this in three steps: It increases the visibility of the brand with its targets by meeting them and strengthening its presence with them. It improves the brand image of the company, by highlighting its expertise It attracts new leads and helps convert them into customers. Indeed, the more you are visible, recognized as an expert and appreciated, the more your prospects will naturally turn to you when they need your products or services. Variations of content marketing We often think of writing when we talk about content marketing, but it is not limited to that and can take many forms: videos, podcasts, infographics, webinars, white papers… to name but a few.