The Importance of Content Marketing

The hot topic at last month's M2M (Marketing to Moms) conference in Chicago was influencer marketing. Several companies presented their unique strategies for how to best identify, approach and manage influencers. Businesses and brands alike debated which bloggers have the most influence and which drive the most traffic and engagement.
There's no doubt, influencer marketing is the marketing tactic du jour.
But what not enough brands are realizing is: it's so much more than blog posts and social media status updates. It's content marketing! If you pay 30 bloggers to write about your product, not only are you accessing and engaging their audience, you're also commissioning 30 stellar pieces of content!
And the opportunities for what you do with this content are endless. You could build a content hub where users and customers interact with all your related content in one place. Or you could create a 30-day social media promotion where you unveil a new piece of content each day. Or you can incorporate their authentic and compelling reviews into your own collateral.
Let's say for example your influencers created recipes as part of their promotion. You can use those in your marketing materials, on your packaging, or even as a regular feature on your company blog (with the influencer's permission of course.)
Marketers and PR professionals, as you prepare your 2014 budgets and start discussing your influencer promotions, remember to keep in mind the power of authentic content. And be sure to use the powerful testimonials you've commissioned!

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