Content marketing has become a big deal…but
Why?
This isn’t a new concept.
David Ogilvy used to write articles for his
clients that were advertisements
3
“It has been found that the less an advertisement looks like an advertisement and the more it looks like an editorial, the more readers stop, look, and read.” -David Ogilvy
And some of the best ads are repeats of
previous motifs
Schweppes – Commander Whitehead
Dos Equis – The most interesting man in the world
Content marketing (with different names) seems
to reappear with the introduction of new
mediums
John Deere – The Furrow
Magazines
Oxydol – Ma Perkins Soap Opera
Radio
Kraft Television Theatre
Television
Display advertisements on social media and mobile phones don’t
work, but this problem has existed before
There were tons of ads in newspapers
New York Times Pages 3 – 5, June 11, 1974
This is the only news on the page! So the display ad problem that plagues the internet, used to exist in printed news as well
A lot of money is spent on digital ads that don’t work
2012 2013 2014E
Search 17.3 19.6 21.6
Display 14.8 17.6 20.6
$2.5
$12.5
$22.5
$32.5
$42.5
US Digital Advertising Spend
US
D (
Billion
s)
Source: eMarketer
Social media is a new medium, and brands are
adopting it to reach their audiences directly
Social media has overtaken search in content discovery
Content marketing has gained an
enormous amount of popularity and
investment in the last couple years
B2B 2014 Spending
B2C 2014 Spending
B2B Marketers B2C Marketers
Source: Content Marketing Institute
Potential customers are discovering solutions to their problems rather than being pulled by
sales…
Why?
66-90% of a buying decision is made before a customer contacts a sales person
Source: Forrester Research