Is content marketing dead?

### RANT ALERT ###

Keyword stuffing, buying links and now content marketing. We’ve only gone and done it again; we’ve flogged another horse to death.

“Build links by creating content people find useful” – cue stampede.

I’ve seen the flatulent death rattle of what we’ve come to understand as content marketing from both the perspective of the creator (through my job) and the publisher (though this blog).

The sheer volume of rehashed content has become a tsunami of recycled ideas, seemingly all based on best practice concepts put forward in 2010.

“20 marketing lessons your cat can teach you”, “5 UX tips you can apply from the banana”… they come thick and fast.

We’ve all been sold on the promise of higher search rankings if we become content creators. But we are all wearing the emperor’s cloths.

Someone is pointing and laughing, I’m sure.

It’s not crazy to think there are vested interests at play amongst all this.

Agencies and industry thought leaders that have built entire departments/software around content marketing can’t afford to pull the pin on this grenade.

We’ve lost sight of important questions such as “Who in their right mind would ever publish this?”, “Hasn’t this been done a million times before, and better?” and “Are we even a brand people care about?”

If you are determined to create some content, the quality bar is now so high, that surely it is better to invest your resources in to one killer piece than a dozen crappy ones?

The marketers and brand managers who see the “build it quick, build it often” approach to content marketing is a waste of time are the ones who will win.

We need to find a new horse to flog.

### RANT COMPLETE ###


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