Modern Day Marvels: Content Marketing and Movement Marketing

How passion and community has taken the marketing world by storm

The Internet has forced many industries to change, and that includes the wide world of marketing.

Traditional marketing was flashy, sexy and awfully loud; shouting at the consumer was typical and these characteristics became frustrating to experience. Maybe that’s why TiVo and DVRs became popular, so commercials could be fast-forwarded and avoided.

However, as many online publishers have seen, the Internet has afforded the opportunity to index, organize, share and promote content through a number of platforms. This process has been coined as Content Marketing, and its main goal is to develop long-lasting relationships by sharing content with desirable audiences. This act of sharing helps users become familiar with the content so that they can judge the reputability behind the company and its content.

Niche online publishers have found content marketing to be beneficial, especially when it’s tied to a successful Internet marketing strategy that includes social media, link building, search engine optimization and external PR campaigns. Now, these same online publishers can consider an additional type of marketing that may appeal directly to their core audience. This additional type of modern marketing is referred to as Movement Marketing.

What is movement marketing?

This may be the first time you’ve heard the term ‘movement marketing’, and you’re likely not the only one. Movement marketing depends heavily on its audience. It starts by focusing on an idea within the company’s culture and tries to capture it dramatically and emotionally. The brand then engulfs itself in the issue by defining its opinion, encourages the passion behind the issue and invites consumers to participate and create with the brand.

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A recent article from Adweek discusses movement marketing and highlights some examples. For instance, The Pepsi Refresh Project and WWF’s “The Earth Hour” movement are two example the article lists. These movements are each based on a single idea and in each the main media is the people involved. The participation in these events show me that passionate people can make a difference, and that some ideas are worth contemplating, generating a stance on and executing a detailed strategy to bring the notion to the masses.

For more on these topics and another look into movement marketing, read the Adweek article.

Content Marketing meets Movement Marketing

Since content marketing and movement marketing are, in my humble opinion, two of the more legitimate and relevant types of marketing, shouldn’t the two be able to work with one another harmoniously? I should certainly hope so.

To display what I mean, let’s use the niche topic of “concept music”. For all intents and purposes, we will define concept music as musical creations that enhance or portray mood through the use of audible elements.

As a content marketer of concept music, I’d offered free, short pieces in addition to writing content and sharing found content on the subject.

Now, let’s imagine that the audience began to grow. Relationships with audience members were getting stronger and their participation within the community was growing.

The time would then come to spread our passion for the topic even further by embracing a movement within the community. As an illustration, let’s say the movement was to support music in elementary schools and to do this we released special albums and educational pieces to not only raise money for the cause, but to also spread education and awareness of the music itself.

What are your thoughts on movement marketing? Is it a fad, or how marketing should be executed? And what do you think about mixing content marketing and movement marketing together?

Finally, if this talk of content marketing has spurred interest, join Don and Kim in Miami, San Francisco, Denver or Boston (date to be announced) for our Content Marketing 2010 Seminars.