Content marketing

CONtent Marketing – or ConTENT Marketing?

I often use a customized timer in the morning to keep me on track through the priorities with which I like to start my day.  Currently, one element on the timer is “Content Marketing” where I take a period of time to create content to bless others and keep my business top of mind.

The timer uses a robotic voice to announce the next element, and recently, it struck me that it pronounced “content” with the emphasis on “tent” not “con.”

That gave a whole new meaning to the word, especially since just the day before I heard a message at church about contentment.

Marketing, by nature, is not something based on contentment. Rather, it is used to help a company grow. The very definition via Google is “the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.”  

Content marketing is one approach where a company like mine provides valuable free content on a regular basis.  We do this, in part, to bring meaning to a community, but also, in part, to keep our name in front of people so that when a need comes up, we will be one of the first to be considered.  It’s a challenging approach because it takes time, and you don’t always see immediate results. You don’t always feel you are getting paid for your time and effort, yet it can lead to new clients and projects down the line.

Contentment is a state of peaceful living, appreciating what you have and not worrying about getting more.  I don’t see it as apathy, where you don’t care to take any more action, but rather a state of mind while you are on the journey of growth.  If applied to content marketing, I think of it as being satisfied each week with contributing meaningfully to the world regardless of tangible benefit, while being hopeful and grateful for the doors it may open along the way.

Given that I’ve struggled over what attention I should or should not give to content marketing, this merging the two meanings of “content” together may help me balance the joys and challenges of this marketing approach. It’s certainly worth a try!

Philippians 4:11 ESV – Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

Image by Diggity Marketing from Pixabay

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