Maybe it’s the embittered English cynic inside me, whose soul has been ravaged by years of disappointing summers and consecutive World Cup failures, but the whole notion of “content marketing” seems somewhat backwards to me.

While the entire SEO industry (how long will we be able to say that sentence for?) scrabbles around desperately trying to position themselves as the greatest content marketer in town, it seems to me that this “new” fool proof tactic that Google will never penalise is merely the latest in a long line of ploys to game the system.

Producing “content” is not the sole preserve of the SEO industry, and for many years marketers and PR gurus have been utilising articles, videos and evocative imagery to great success, just as SEOs are trying to do now.

It’s not only marketers; television, theatres, radio stations books all require “content” in order to make them function. Without content they would merely be a medium with no purpose.

The Medium is the Message

Content drives everything in our modern world of entertainment, but when you settle down to watch an old episode of The Sopranos or you laugh at the brilliance of The Thick of It (or Veep for any American readers), are you left thinking “that was a fantastic piece of content”?

This is where the notion of using “content marketing” as your latest SEO strategy comes somewhat unstuck.

Good television programmes are those that are produced to be good television programmes, those that grip the audience and capture their imaginations.

Good adverts are those that leave a mark on those that watch them and force them into an action, whether that’s telling their friends, sharing it on Facebook or going to the shop and buying a product.

Good content has worked in the entertainment industry for years because it has a symbiotic connection with its medium, it was conceived and created to be an excellent television programme, not a piece of content.

Missing the Point

If you are thinking that “content marketing” is going to be your latest big hitting strategy then you are almost certain to fail. Content that is produced to fill a pre-constructed hole will never be as successful as material that drives the format it is on.

“We need a video for content marketing” won’t work as well as “we have an amazing video that deserves an audience”. This is the key segmentation that will divide good marketers from bad and distinguish you from the next wave of tactic spammers.

Of course, not everybody thinks this way, and a brilliant article in SEOMoz by Mackenzie Fogelson presents this information in a much more actionable way than this piece aspires to.

This is more about challenging those involved in SEO to think carefully about whether they want to be seen as more than a “Content Marketer”. Does Brad Pitt describe himself as a “Content Provider”? Using brilliant articles, videos and the like will of course bring success to a website, but this is not how you should be thinking. Instead, use the medium to drive your message, not the other way around.

I sometimes struggle when it comes to making a concise point that is understandable to people other than myself, so I will leave you with the thoughts of the brilliant stand-up comedian Stewart Lee, who has his own thoughts on the notion of “content”.

There are many businesses and charities out there that will huddle together in a meeting before deciding that they are going to “do” social media. The established media is awash with stories of how companies are using the likes of Facebook and Twitter to connect with their audiences, and the temptation can be to jump on the band wagon and get stuck in with a social media marketing campaign without really considering it first.

For many, it can be a great opportunity to build a loyal base of followers, grow your brand and increase conversions, whatever they may be. But before jumping on the social media bandwagon, there are some important questions you should ask.

Why?

As with any marketing activity, the purpose of your campaign should be outlined from the start. Do you want to raise brand awareness? Increase sales? Get more members? Rather than being an end in itself, social media should be seen as a way of achieving existing goals in your marketing campaign.

Getting 20,000 followers on Twitter is just grand, but are these followers going to help you achieve the ambitions of your marketing campaign? Are they likely to join your club or buy your product, or are they just numbers that look great on a screen? Forget the hype; social media should be a means to achieving the goals that you have already set out for your marketing activity.

Where?

There are many tools in your social media toolkit, and the ones you use should depend on where your audience are more likely to be. For example, Facebook is more of an informal, sharing network where relationships tend to exist between those that are known to each other in their life away from the screen.

LinkedIn is more suited to business professionals and networking, and is the haunt of many B2B campaigns.

Twitter is a useful all-rounder, great for connecting with people who you don’t know already and creating new relationships.

Picking the right tool from the social media tool box is essential if your campaign is to achieve any level of success.

There is no doubting the fact that the influence of social media is growing all of the time, and the sheer numbers of people who interact with each network means that it is essential that companies and charities understand it and can use it to further their ambitions.

Don’t see social media as an end in itself, use it to connect with your audience and as a means to achieve your existing goals.

Last week there were a couple of worrying pieces of news if your sole marketing avenue is SEO (though there have been many of these of late…).

Firstly, the news that clicks on Google Ads increased by a massive 42% over the second quarter of this year. Secondly, that the average price per click that Google receives from these visits has plumetted by 16%.

So why should us humble marketers care if Google isn’t getting as much for its clicks as it used to?

Unfortunately for those companies, agencies and individuals whose only form of internet marketing is SEO, these figures could spell the start of a grim future, and according to yet more statistics it could already be having an effect on your traffic and on your business.

The final piece of this jigsaw is the news that for the most competitive commercial niches, Google Ads are receiving nearly double the clicks of their Organic brethren.

If your only traffic source is Organic Search, your strategy is on shaky foundations.

For anyone that specialises solely in SEO, this should paint an awfully worrying picture. If Google cannot command as much per click as they used to, the only way for profits to continue to grow is by attracting more paid clicks.

And it is already happening.

While for many, the Penguin and Panda updates have provoked SEO practitioners into undertaking a more sustainable approach to their link building strategy, it should also mark the start of a more pragmatic approach to how businesses, agencies and individuals regard SEO as part of the whole online marketing mix.

Not only have these updates forced a change in how SEOs undertake their link building and content strategies, they have also coincided with big changes in the prevalence of Paid Clicks and how important the quantity of those clicks have become to Google.

If Google is going to maintain the validity of its core business, keep profits rising and keep its shareholders happy, it is going to have to come up with more ways to steal clicks away from its Organic listings, and this is bad news if you rely on these clicks to keep you in business.

Time to Diversify

One of the most widely ignored pieces of advice in SEO is that you should diversify your traffic sources and ensure you are not overly reliant on Organic traffic for the sustainability of your business. If you have not heeded this advice yet, now may well be the time.

Look at how you can benefit from Adwords, as well as other avenues such as Social Networks and using links that drive traffic as well as benefit your rankings.

The signs are clear, Google wants its clicks back and your business may well have to diversify its marketing strategy if you are going to keep up.