You see a gorgeous girl at a party…

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say, “I am very rich. Marry me!”
That’s Direct Marketing.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. One of your friends goes up to her, points at you and says, “He’s very rich. Marry him.”
That’s Advertising.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day you call and say, “Hi, I’m very rich. Marry me.”
That’s Telemarketing.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You get up and straighten your tie; you walk up to her and pour her a drink. You open the door for her; pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her a ride, and then say, “By the way, I’m very rich. Will you marry me?”
That’s Public Relations.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. She walks up to you and says, “You are very rich.”
That’s Brand Recognition.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say, “I’m very rich. Marry me.” She gives you a nice hard slap to the face.
That’s Customer Feedback.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say, “Let’s dance”. You show her the moves. You take her on unassuming dates on bicycle, talk a lot, dance some more. Slowly, she realizes you’re rich. By the time you say “Will you marry me?”, she’s been waiting for it.
That’s Content Marketing.

Why is Content Marketing so hard to understand?

Cute, isn’t it? The joke above. Maybe too much? My Google+ friend and marketing savant Jennifer Novia found this little gem at The Laughing Housewife blog, and I couldn’t help but add the last bit about Content Marketing.

Some will wince upon reading it. “Cliché”, “hokey” they’ll label it. Something about the humanity of romance juxtaposed to business and marketing.

Why is it that we struggle with understanding this form of marketing that is taking over all others?

I mean, it’s not like it’s new. And the idea of gaining someone’s trust by being genuine in order to do business is the foundation of long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships.

Then, why is it so hard?

In this article I wrote for Seth Godin’s UpMarket magazine, I began to explore this question.

My thinking is Content Marketing (part of Inbound Marketing/Permission Marketing, a.k.a. Relationship Marketing, the foundation of Social Media Marketing, etc.) is just a hard pill to swallow for many small business owners.

As I wrote there, for one thing, it’s just plain hard:

You have to produce or curate content, which effectively makes every successful company marketing online a Digital Media-producing company.

You find yourself, and your company, becoming more exposed, and transparent, which takes some getting used to.

You have to really plan, and measure how you go about it, or you could burn a lot of resources.

It is a lot like building a long-lasting personal relationship. Basically the same rules apply:

• Be honest
• Be helpful
• Be open
• Be caring

We can all agree to these being good things, right? Then, why is it so hard?

The Humanity of Content Marketing

I think Content Marketing difficult for some small business owners to grasp or accept partly because of the personal aspect of it.

Think about it. It’s commonly accepted to say something like “hey, it’s not personal, it’s business”.

On top of that, we’ve grown weary of the Mad Men era type of marketing. No one wants to be one of those guys in his circle of friends or clients.

What is happening is social media is transforming what we think of as business as usual(*). The transparency created by social media is turning the proverbial global village into an actual small little town, regardless of physical boundaries.

When this happens, the dynamics of a small town apply: Clients get to know the owner behind the business, maybe even by name. The owner gets to know clients by name too. A community is created, and in small communities, business is personal.

A shift in mind-set

This is why Content Marketing is hard: It requires erasing from our minds decades of lessons instilled by conventional media, and accept a return to a simpler time, where the Golden Rule ruled.

The tactics and mechanics of it are simple by comparison. The shift in mind-set is the challenging part.

The good news? I think most people have it in them to do the right thing. You too. Let the guards down, if any, and just be the likable person your closest friends love. That’s a good start.

Until next time,