This chapter looks at content marketing strategy from a holistic perspective, as a process that includes an understanding of all the content your brand is creating, those for whom it is intended, and for what purpose. Content marketing is important for positioning your brand in the minds of consumers. As a content marketer, you need to understand the brand and consumer context and be able to craft appropriate content based on user receptiveness and channel appropriateness. You also need to select the best route to customer in terms of tactics and understand how content marketing fits and contributes to your overall marketing strategy. Ultimately, the design and the content should motivate the user enough to share the content with others.

Content marketing is an umbrella term that focuses on matching content (information, inspiration, or entertainment) to your customer needs at whichever stage they are in the buying cycle or customer journey. Unlike TV, where the advertiser pushes messages to a captive audience, the focus is on engaging content, which means that marketers must think like publishers (attracting an audience) rather than seeing themselves as advertisers (buying an audience) of a product. The internet has, in many respects, cut out the middleman. Consumers and brands can now connect directly through a number of easily accessible online platforms. In content marketing, a brand has to give customers more than just the product or service.