Learning about Content

Marketing
By Ric Oribiana
Content Marketing has been one of the jobs mentioned by Jomar Hilario in
our Date with Freedom Summit as among our possible careers. As an aspiring
Virtual Professional
(VP) who also just
heard of this the first
time, I have done a
little research and
would like to share
what I learned about
content marketing.

Definition
Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as a
a strategic marketing approach
focused on creating and distributing
valuable, relevant, and consistent content
to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience

and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

(Ansabe? Nosebleed tayo dito, ah!)

Well, first we need to know what does content mean?
Sa pagkakaintindi ko, ang ibig sabihin ng content ay nilalaman. Therefore,
nilalaman o content ng ano? ng information.
This information must have contents that are valuable, relevant and consistent
to meet the needs of the reader. Again, sa pagkakaintindi ko, ito ay dapat
nagbibigay ng mahahalagang impormasyon na sumasagot sa
pangangailangan ng bumabasa nito. Ito ay magbibigay ng mga bagay na
may kabuluhan sa kanya. Ito rin ay naglalaman lamang ng mga bagay na
naayon sa kanyang interes o pangangailangan. (Haba talaga kapag
tinagalog.)
Compared to Sales which depends so much on the skill of the salesperson,
Marketing puts forth an offer
that meets the buyers needs
right at the place and time of sales opportunity.
The most effective marketing is therefore about communication, not
manipulation.
So, dito pala nagkakaiba ang marketing at sales. Napakaimportante ang
communication sa marketing. So ang content marketing ay nag-lalaman ng
offer o alok sa customer pagkatapos na mabigyan ng kasagutan ang
pangangailangan sa pamamagitan ng mga impormasyon. Ang isa pang

pagkakaiba nito sa sales ay nakafocus ang (naubusan ako ng Filipino dito)

content marketing sa pangangailangan at kung ano ang gusto o needs ng
customer at hindi kung ano ang mga features o maganda sa produkto.
I like the analogy on the picture below with the content likened to water.
Water takes the shape of its container. The content for content marketing
should likewise take the shape on what the needs are of the audience being
targeted.

So, balik tayo sa definition ng content marketing, para alam natin kung ano
ang kailangan natin para sa career na ito. Isa raw sa purpose nito ay para
ma-attract at ma-retain ang attention ng isang target audience o ayon sa
Content Marketing Institute ay clearly defined audience raw. So, hindi kung
sino-sino lang, dito meron lang tayong isang klase o uri ng taong gusto
nating makuha ang attention at depende ito sa pangangailangan ng
audience na ito.

It is very clear here that we are dealing first with an audience, not with an
immediate buyer.
So in the end, our output should result to a customer action that would be
profitable to the seller of the product, who are the clients of the content
marketing virtual professional.
Knowledge and Skills Needed
What are the knowledge and skills needed to start and eventually succeed as a
Content Marketer? Definitely it is digital marketing skills that Lee Oden (Top
Rank Online Marketing Blog) states as identifying, engaging and managing
promotion resources thru integration with email, social networks like, social
ads, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), paid per click, sponsorships,
influencers, retargeting, blogger outreach, public relations, all of this coupled
with the ability to promote content. Sorry guys, lots of the things mentioned
here are as alien to me as they may be to you. I need to familiarize myself on
them first, before I can discuss them.
Oden also mentioned the importance of ones ability to plan, implement and
optimize content performance with marketing automation software like
Marketo, Eloqua or Infusionsoft. Pero pang higher level na raw ito. I will
stop here for the moment. Namention ko lang kasi malawak pala itong field
ng content marketing.
Since this article has been written by a newbie in the field of virtual career, I
stand corrected and appreciate it, if there any statements above that may not
reflect the facts regarding Content Marketing.

References
What is Content Marketing?. Anonymous. Content Marketing Institute.
http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/what-is-content-marketing/
The Difference Between Sales and Marketing. Heaton, James.
http://www.tronviggroup.com/the-difference-between-sales-and-marketing/
Essential Digital Marketing Skills for Content Marketers. Oden, Lee. Top Rank Online
Marketing Blog. http://www.toprankblog.com/2014/02/digital-marketing-skills/