Content marketing now goes beyond marketing

Content marketing is now much more than just a marketing tactic.

Why is it time to talk about content marketing, yet again? Because now, content isn’t just marketing. In many cases, content is now the full experience. Rather than content simply being a way to drive some a transaction or action, a lot of times content now is the experience — it is the transaction, it is the product.

This has less to do with e-commerce companies, but more so the experience-based businesses (the entertainment industry, events, festivals, the arts) and even programming (non-profit organizations, education). These are now turning into online experiences where their content is the product.

Now more than ever, the content is what people are paying for — and in fact, in many cases, it’s the only option that they have to sell (with theatres and stadiums closed, and other events cancelled). Even in sports, one of the largest in the entertainment industry, is strictly a content play now.

The questions become, how can companies get ahead of this?

How can companies and brands adjust so it is not just a temporary phase, but that they look at content as a product moving forward?

Winning brands are becoming media companies

It goes back to the concept that every company should be a media company. This means that your audience is looking to consume your content as a resource, not simply as an ad or sales messaging. Following this concept, as a brand or organization, you should be focused on producing valuable content — whether that be for entertainment purposes, providing useful information or otherwise (as opposed to that content only existing as an ad).

What does this mean for the future of marketing businesses?

Moving forward, I believe we are going to have a lot of organizations and companies who are promoting original content that is just there for consumption without a strict call to action to purchase an external product or service, the content will be the product.