Content marketing is a new and emerging marketing strategy that is quickly becoming a major consideration to be included in a companies online marketing toolkit as the traditional methods of marketing become less efficient and so more costly.

The web allows companies and brands to showcase their expertise and thought leadership through content marketing with minimal friction online that can be spread through different mediums and channels at a lower cost.

So what is content marketing?

A definition by Wikipedia “Content marketing is an umbrella term encompassing all marketing formats that involve the creation or sharing of content for the purpose of engaging current and potential consumer bases. In contrast to traditional marketing methods that aim to increase sales or awareness through interruption techniques, content marketing subscribes to the notion that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action. Content marketing has benefits in terms of retaining reader attention and improving brand loyalty better than traditional marketing techniques”

Junta 42 ( A content marketing focused company) defines it this way “Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.

A new survey from Junta 42 reveals the key content marketing survey findings:

According to the survey, content marketing spending comprises 33% of the total marketing budget (up 11% from 2008)

Smaller companies spend more than 2x that of larger companies on content marketing

Marketers are increasing their focus on mobile content solutions

Only 7% of marketers are spending less on content in 2010

The top 7 content products that are being used and should be included in your marketing plans are

Social Media e-Newsletters Blogs White Papers Article Marketing Case Studies Online Videos

This shows that marketers are leveraging new media content products more than ever – nearly 3/4 are leveraging content through social media and a majority are tapping into blogs and enewsletters. White papers and case studies continue to be mainstays in the content marketing portfolio.

What is rather revealing is the continuing marketing importance of email marketing (e-Newsletters) in the marketing mix with a ranking at number two. This continues to affirm its importance that I highlighted in a previous post “Do Marketers Prefer Social Media or Email Marketing?”

The other content medium to watch is mobile content as the Smart Phone and faster mobile broadband speeds allow a more meanginful experience for mobile users as well as the emerging Gen Y users that consume more and more content on the move via their mobile phones.

So is content marketing in its different mediums and channels part of your marketing plans for 2010?