Since the average person is exposed to up to 5000+ advertisements during any given day, marketing experts have been swimming upstream to try and capture the attention of the masses, but this may not be the best approach. Instead of trying to create a record breaking ad campaign, many companies have also decided to employ content marketing as a way to work smarter, not harder.

As explained by Copyblogger, Content Marketing takes a strategic approach by:

• Focusing on a target market.
• Creating and distributing valuable free content.
• Developing relationships meant to attract and retain consumers.

Just like a real estate agents mantra, “location, location, location,” when developing content for marketing, it is important to consider where content is being distributed. A company could be developing great content surrounding their product, but unless it is seen by potential customers, it is a waste of time. Finding a potential market for the product and strategically placing content directly in the path of the consumer is the only way that content will reach its desired destination. Identifying where your company’s target market is online can be challenging and it may be useful to employ a big data company such as Quantcast Measure or Google Analytics to assist you in your marketing goals.

The number one rule when creating content is considering your potential clientele’s time as valuable, and in doing so, creating content that does not waste it. Valuable content is paramount to the success of a content marketing campaign because the key is to create content that will be distributed. In doing so you will create a potential avenue for electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) distribution of your content. Once you have given someone something they can use, (especially if it is free) they aren’t going to keep it to themselves, they are going to share it! You’re welcome.

Distributing content to a target market is only useful if this content is valuable and free. It sounds counter productive to give something away for free when your business is trying to make money, but ‘au contraire mon frere’, by giving potential customers a taste of your product, you are essentially helping to develop a relationship of trust. The consumer can take the valuable information, use it, see it work, and voila! They are now on the road to being loyal customers.

Amanda E. McCoy holds a B.A. in Communication Studies from San Francisco State University and is a Content Writer for the San Francisco American Marketing Association.