Is Content the New Black?

In talking to a prospective client recently, she made a comment that I agreed with but also made me cringe. "Content is the new black," is what she said and, as a marketer, it made me cringe because of how trendy it makes content marketing sound. Truth is, the term "content" is all the rage right now, but I started asking myself, ‘what were we doing before?’  

Five years ago we were creating original, branded messages tied to accomplishing specific business objectives - that sounds exactly like "content marketing" to me. And, even before that, we targeted set groups of people with individualized messages using a variety of mediums and measuring the effectiveness of each. Again, I'm not seeing a huge difference. We used more print, we didn’t format our content for cellphones and we certainly had no “social” aspect to our “media” but that’s it, right?

Back in the day, the big difference was that we called content-based marketing solutions by their actual names: magazine, microsite, e-mail newsletter, etc. Today, we have so many more opportunities to place targeted messages that it’s a necessity to manage them together and be as efficient as possible. Hence the fact that many companies are naming C-level executives to this "new" division of marketing: content. (Proving my point, check out this related story from Chris Perry at Forbes)

So, while it makes me a cringe, it’s all too true that audiences will demand a highly targeted, relevant message before you even have a shot of getting their attention and that is like being “the new black.”

Content marketing common sense: Names change, trends will come and go. Creating original, branded messages that reach your audiences and achieve business goals will never go out of style!

In her role as VP of Content Marketing, Carolyn Strand brings years of experience matching marketing solutions to the challenges of some of the biggest brands in the financial services industry.