By Focusing So Closely On This Particular Tree You Ll Miss

Chapter 2 - The invisible value of content

Content marketing is a black swan in the world of digital marketing. With an ever-growing suite of data-tracking tools out there, it seems that every individual action taken online can be measured out in dollar value. This is not so with content marketing; some of the highest-impact results of creating great content cannot be measured or even anticipated.

Often content marketing strategies are described and measured with philosophies adopted from others areas of digital marketing: conversion rates, customer avatars, sales cycles, clickthroughs and calls to action. All of these focus on an immediate and measureable ROI (return on investment). The result is that many of us see our content as little more than a landing page or sales letter. Though these are important things to consider, treating your content marketing like a landing page will undercut your results in the long run. By focusing so closely on this particular “tree,” you’ll miss the forest.

Patrick Hourihan writes about the unique nature of content in his article “How content marketing can deliver a new ROI – Return on Inspiration:”

“We are witnessing an evolution of the content marketing purchase cycle, where people are jumping in at various stages. The purchase funnel is becoming less linear, more organic and fluid, with content marketing helping brands drive other goals such as brand building and relationship building, as well as driving sales.”