What is Content Marketing Writing?

Based on the number of questions I heard from fellow writers both online and at the recent ASJA conference that I attended, many writers are confused about the term content marketing writing. I honestly think that the name makes it sound more confusing and ominous than it is. Actually, most professional writers are already doing some form of content marketing writing and don’t even realize it.

The best definition of content marketing I could find was by Sonia Simone in her article The 10-Step Content Marketing Writing Checklist on Copyblogger.  She wrote, “If I was going to boil it down to its absolutely simplest form, I’d say that content marketing is communicating with potential customers in a way that an audience actually enjoys paying attention to, and that demonstrates to that audience that you would be a good person to do business with.”

A good example of content marketing is the American Express OPEN Forum. Ultimately, American Express wants to increase their business credit card customers. But instead of simply directly marketing their cards to small businesses, they created a very informative website for small business owners. The result is that small business owners now regularly visit the site and owners now associate American Express with understanding the needs of small business owners.

But one of the interesting angles to content marketing is that can be more than just blogs and articles. Content marketing can be video, infographics, and even a trade show event. A great example of thinking outside the page for content marketing is the Zoe’s Kitchen L.I.F.E app. In addition to tracking the fast-casual restaurants loyalty program, the app helps customer’s measure progress on their lifestyle goals, such as exercise and healthy eating.

So content marketing writing is any deliverable that is part of a brand’s content marketing strategy. A freelance writer might be hired to write a white paper or create a loyal following on a blog geared towards the brand’s target customer. But beyond these somewhat traditional deliverables, freelance writers are increasingly involved in other forms of content marketing deliverables, including infographics, video and even text for content marketing related apps.

What are your favorite examples of content marketing and content marketing writing? What types of content marketing deliverables have you been involved with creating?