Jhon, as usual, sat down to read the newspaper today. His favorite section is the editorial or column page. Even if he reads nothing else in the paper, this part is a must for him. Today, he is reading an article by one of his favorite columnists. As he reads, he notices that the columnist repeatedly mentions and praises the iPhone, highlighting some of its excellent features. Although the iPhone isn’t the main topic of the column, the columnist skillfully weaves in its features.

What happened to Jhon is something many of us experience. Often, we don’t question why this happens or what the purpose behind it is. Many are unaware of how effectively content can be used to promote something. This technique is known as ‘content marketing’. Today, our content will focus on ‘content marketing’.

Table of Contents

1. What is Content Marketing?
2. The History of Content Marketing
3. Why is Content Marketing Necessary?

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is a marketing technique that involves sharing valuable, relevant, and consistent information within content to attract a specific audience towards certain products. The main goal of this method is to convert the audience into profitable customers through engaging content.

Many people still don’t have a clear understanding of this concept. No problem, we will discuss it in more detail. Let’s go back to the incident with Tahsin. The column Tahsin read was about an international event analysis, but the columnist subtly praised the iPhone and highlighted some of its special features. This piqued Tahsin’s curiosity about the iPhone.

This curiosity about the iPhone that was sparked in Tahsin is the sole purpose of content marketing. Content marketing is considered one of the smartest marketing strategies because it can create the most loyal customers.

Take Tahsin, for example. The columnist he was reading is a highly respected figure to him. The information from this esteemed and knowledgeable person would naturally be more trustworthy to Tahsin. Marketers understand this aspect of trust and have turned it into a marketing strategy.

As a result, Tahsin will consider this content more important than a typical ad, fulfilling the marketing objective. Hence, content marketing is known as a smart and reliable marketing strategy.

The History of Content Marketing

Content marketing might sound like a recently discovered marketing strategy. Initially, I thought so too, but my understanding was far from correct. The history of content marketing is quite surprising.

Content marketing was first used by Benjamin Franklin, an American, who marketed a printing press in his 1732 book, “Poor Richard’s Almanack.” This brilliant idea has evolved into one of the smartest marketing strategies in the 21st century. Benjamin Franklin is often referred to as the father of content marketing.

In 1895, a company named John Deere published a magazine called “The Furrow,” which was aimed at farmers of that era. The magazine contained information on how farmers could benefit from various practices.

Now, let’s see how this magazine further enriched the history of content marketing. On the bottom left side of the magazine, it was subtly mentioned, “Sent to you with the compliments of your John Deere Dealer.” Some might think this was just a compliment without any marketing intent. Searching for marketing purposes here might seem foolish.

Yes, many people think like this. I used to think the same until I realized that they were actually aware of the power of content marketing at that time. Their main aim was to popularize their brand among farmers, who were their primary customers. Isn’t that interesting?

These two examples are enough to understand how rich the history of content marketing is. There are many more credible examples, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll stop here. This nearly 300-year-old marketing procedure is now smarter and more effective. It has a significant presence and dominance in modern digital marketing.

Why is Content Marketing Necessary?

You might have some understanding of what content marketing is by now. However, the interesting thing is, that understanding why content marketing is essential for your business is more important than just knowing what it is. It’s crucial to comprehend how content marketing can transform a regular reader into a buyer. There are four key steps to converting a general reader into a customer. They are:

1. Awareness: At this stage, the reader is introduced to the product. This initial exposure sparks curiosity about the product. During this phase, the customer is often in a state of indecision, taking time to make up their mind about whether to buy the product or not. The primary goal here is to create curiosity.
2. Research: When a general reader hears about a product or gains some initial knowledge, their curiosity drives them to learn more. They start researching the product, and contemplating a potential purchase. This is when they begin to gather information, often using Google searches to compare options, like deciding which iPhone to buy and evaluating what they can afford.
3. Consideration: In this stage, the customer decides after collecting all the necessary information. This involves comparing different products, prices, and features. They determine which product they can afford and where to buy it at the best price. For instance, they decide on the iPhone model and the store from which to purchase it.
4. Buy: At this final stage, the customer makes the purchase. All decisions have been finalized in the previous stages.

To sell a product, one must guide the reader through these stages, which is precisely what content marketing aims to do.

Content marketing is a smart marketing strategy. Typically, consumers don’t realize they are being marketed to. Take the incident with Tahsin as an example. How many people think like Tahsin? Not everyone can understand the underlying marketing intention. On platforms like Facebook, we frequently encounter such content. Some users unknowingly promote brands. However, seasoned marketers are well aware of and understand this strategy.

We were discussing why content marketing is necessary for you. Content marketing can easily attract consumers to a product. Its popularity stems from the fact that consumers often don’t realize it’s created for marketing purposes.

Through this marketing method, you can first raise awareness among users, making them aware of the product. The subsequent steps will be completed by the customers themselves, influenced by previous content. Finally, the marketer’s mission will be accomplished by convincing the customer to purchase the product.

That’s all for today. Next time, we will discuss various content marketing strategies and how giant companies like Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and HubSpot succeeded using these strategies. Until then, stay healthy.