The Original9 blog storyboard

So why, exactly, does content marketing matter? That question — surprisingly — can still stump a lot of smart folks running businesses and marketing organizations. Rebecca Lieb, an analyst with Altimeter Group, kicked off the Content Marketing Strategies Conference today with some smart insights around that basic question.  A few highlights:

Shifting marketing from push to pull
Producing content that responds to what customers are (through search) actually asking for — as opposed to what publishers or marketers think they might like — is a key challenge for brand publishers, says Lieb. Completing that transition “demands new skills, new platforms, and new budgets.”

Key benefits of content marketing
Content marketing isn’t just about creating buzz or brand exposure. In fact, Lieb notes, successful content marketing programs integrate into the entire range of marketing use cases:

• Brand awareness
• Building trust with customers
• Assisting with purchase intent
• Word of mouth
• Engagement
• Lowering customer acquisition costs

Adds Lieb: “There really isn’t a stage at which content marketing doesn’t apply.”

Three key types of content marketing
Lieb broke down the basic, main purposes of any content program. They consist of content that…

• Informs — content that serves educational needs of your target audience
• Entertains — no explanation required!
• Offers utlilty — the creation of online tools, calculators, and other things that don’t just educate but

What does the modern CM organization look like?
Toss out notions of traditional org charts. The emerging content marketing organization, Lieb notes, will include some or all of the following:

* Chief marketing office
* Editorial director content director
* Community manager
* Bloggers
* Social media gurus

Two other important reminders from Lieb:

• Content marketing isn’t free.  CEOs and CMOs alike need to wake up to the cost reality of being a quality, successful content publisher.
• Closing the expectation gap.  Libe notes an Altimeter study that shows the significant gap between what marketers say they want — things like video and new mobile platforms — and what actually works (things like email marketing, SEO).