Are search engines getting better at helping us find the information we want? It sure seems that way to me, and that has big implications for content marketers.

Until quite recently, the Web was at risk of being overrun with poor content. Finding useful information required wading through several pages of search results and dozens of meager articles. One of the most prolific producers of such content was Demand Media, Inc., publisher of the eHow site. Labeled by critics as a “content farm,” Demand uses an algorithm to detect popular keyword searches and assigns armies of starving freelancers to “answer” those queries with millions of quick-and-dirty articles and videos.

I hope you can stick with me for an interesting marketing conundrum transposed to the surprisingly comparable world of boutique music retail. Here goes!

If you were to think of musicians – and specifically guitar players – as simply a representative sample of the larger U.S. consumer base (which they are), you’d see that their needs and desires span across the spectrum from touring arena rockers to teens working out the opening chords to “Stairway to Heaven” in their bedrooms. And, much like that larger consumer world, a select few “big box” brands dominate the massively lucrative industry of instruments, amplifiers, effects, etc that supposes to cater to all these diverse needs. So, as a marketer, how do you break past the big leagues and find traction? How do you develop a niche or even compete?

Research by McMurry's digital business team shows newer tactics and tools continue to impact content marketing spending. Companies spent $40.1 billion on content marketing in 2010, based on a recent industry report published by ContentWise, the leading source of news, information and research on the content marketing industry published by McMurry. Of an average company’s overall marketing, advertising and communications budget, 29 percent was dedicated to content marketing in 2010.

If you’re an attentive marketer or just a sharp-eyed consumer, you’ve probably noticed the increasing number and variety of those funky dot matrix barcodes in your mail, on billboards and at public transit stations.

Going commonly by the moniker “QR codes” (quick-response) or “2D barcodes” (two-dimensional), these mobile tagging formats have picked up major marketing momentum in the U.S. and Europe with the explosion of smartphone adoption (camera + phone = scanner).

But what’s the realistic staying power of mobile barcodes for marketing?

The hardest step for companies looking to engage in social media is the first. Shivering on the edge of the social media high-dive, it’s easy to procrastinate by engaging in overwrought discussions of which platform to use or how often to post, or—the truly asinine—developing editorial guidelines for 140 character long "Tweets."

In an excerpt from a recent Publishing Executive magazine interview, CEO Chris McMurry discusses the continuing evolution of marketing and the crucial role of content across all mediums.

Certain people just exude confidence and have an obvious, clear path for their company's direction. Chris McMurry , CEO of content marketing firm (in "old" terms: custom publisher) McMurry, is one of those people. His focus and ability to anticipate and adapt quickly to market shifts have led the company to grow "around 50 percent in five years [from $33 million in 2006 to $50 million currently], despite the recession and industry shifts," he says.