I had a feeling it was coming about a year ago.
A new term to describe something that doesn’t really need a new term and yet at the same time is meaningless.
But lets put aside such semantic discussions for those who chose to burn time on such matters.
The term “Content Marketing” is here and lets embrace it like a long lost friend.
I don’t have to buy into the artifice that this is a new technique, all shiny and fresh. The readers to this blog are mostly hard nosed online marketers who know that knew terms like this are only created so the same old stuff can be repackaged and sold as a new marketing concept.
And so a writer, now becomes a content marketing consultant.
OK, it’s not exactly like that and there are nuances to the term and it’s meaning, blah blah blah.
The term “linkbait” went through a similar process when it stuck its mongrel head out the hole from whence it came. Lots of screen reading time was devoted to its true meaning and whether the £800 suited marketing exec of an International Corporation should be told he needed “Linkbait”, without implying it’s something found on a pavement after a crack addict has vomited on it.
And so it’s natural that the term, “content marketing” has kicked linkbait off the charts. Just like New Wave replaced punk, these things go in cycles.
I know what you are think, “yeah but linkbait isn’t anything like content marketing….” yada yada yada.
You are missing the point.
The reasons these terms exist in the first place is purely economic. They exist so we can sell stuff to clients who don’t want a two hour insight into the nuances of the technique.
The terms do not have defined meanings (a Wikipedia entry is not indicative of a defined meaning) and so when talking to a client the term can be shaped to suit the objective.
The term can now describe a range of things that were not bundled together before. Which is very useful when explaining things to a client, as they do not have the time to understand detail.
Maybe I am being a tad cynical, but I like the thought process to be transparent and it helps me when people say, “Dude, just get over it, content marketing is King“.
Now, as I train people in the dark art of linkbaiting, it’s not too much of a leap to repackage that training into content marketing training.
To my pals who agree with me that calling it “content marketing” is naff and really just a mind job, if the mainstream are running the term, may as well rank for it.
The process of going over to the dark side started last year, may as well embrace it and move forward.