What is Content Marketing? The Strategies Driving Results in 2025

Even though we’ve been writing about content marketing for over a decade, I think it’s essential that we address basic questions for both marketing students and validate the information provided to experienced marketers. Content marketing is a broad term that encompasses a wide range of activities.

The term content marketing itself has become the norm in the digital age… I don’t recall a time when marketing didn’t involve content. Of course, there’s a ton more to a content marketing strategy than just starting a blog, so let’s put some color around the phrase.

What is Content Marketing?

Content Marketing is the planning, design, development, execution, sharing, promotion and optimization of content that’s developed to acquire new customers, keep current customers, and increase the value of current customer relationships.

While content used to be distributed through traditional media—commercials, advertising, direct mail, catalogs, and sales sheets —the Internet provided a means for consumers and businesses to seek out information and research problems, products, and services, companies that did a great job delivering that content acquired new customers, retained current ones, and increased the value of their relationships through the information they provided.

How Does Content Marketing Work?

I’ve been assisting companies for over a decade with their content marketing strategies. Here’s a video we used to help our clients understand how we utilize content marketing to drive business using every channel and medium.

There’s an analogy that I’ve used for a long time when it came to marketing versus advertising. Advertising is putting bait on the hook and dropping it in the water, hoping the fish will bite. Marketing is the process of finding the fish, analyzing when they bite, what they bite on, and how long before they bite.

Content is content… a whitepaper, a blog post, a video, a podcast, an infographic, or whatever else can be devised to communicate your message. However, content marketing requires an understanding of who your audience is, the methodologies that are communicated, identifying where the audience is, understanding their intent, and producing the appropriate series and types of content for those prospects or customers to consume. It also includes the methods you’ll use to share and promote your content to reach them.

Content Marketing Strategies

Many businesses confuse content marketing with traditional advertising. They don’t understand why a social media post, an article, or a mention didn’t immediately or directly drive conversions. Content marketing isn’t often instantaneous; it’s a strategy that requires both momentum and direction, allowing you to guide the audience through the purchasing, retention, or upsell process. Like chumming is to fishing, often you need a baseline of content to promote throughout the feeding grounds to attract the target audience.

One focus we develop when working with clients is determining what a content library might look like that will support their overall marketing efforts.

Types of Content Marketing

Drawing from our own experience across multiple industries, we’ve found that a focused set of content types—delivered strategically and creatively—drives the most significant impact. Rather than simply publishing content for content’s sake, the goal should be to build an owned media ecosystem that compounds over time, deepens brand authority, and converts attention into revenue.

Here are the content types we’ve found most effective for our clients, now including expanded formats like short- and long-form video, case studies, and social media content.

Articles: The Foundation of Your Content Library

Articles are the cornerstone of any owned content strategy. Far more than a blog roll, a robust article library is a searchable, shareable knowledge base that serves prospects, nurtures customers, and builds authority in your domain. This is not a one and done endeavor—it’s a compounding asset. Each article indexed by search engines has the potential to drive recurring traffic for years.

Infographics: Visualize Complexity, Amplify Reach

Well-designed infographics are a gateway to broad visibility and comprehension. By translating complex data or processes into a visual story, infographics are highly shareable across social platforms, blogs, and even offline channels. We also deliver the original design files to clients, encouraging them to repurpose the content into slide decks, print handouts, or animated social posts.

Whitepapers: Depth That Converts

Whitepapers are among the most effective assets for B2B conversion. They provide the in-depth perspective buyers crave when nearing a decision. Unlike casual content, whitepapers typically require an email gate, making them ideal for lead generation. We often build a content journey that leads from a blog post to an infographic, to a CTA-laden landing page, and finally to a whitepaper download.

Case Studies: Proof Over Promise

Prospects trust results more than marketing copy. Case studies offer detailed walkthroughs of how your product or service delivered real-world results. They’re especially persuasive when they highlight quantifiable outcomes, customer quotes, and recognizable brands.

Videos: From Awareness to Emotional Connection

Video is indispensable in today’s content mix, serving prospects across every stage of the funnel. We recommend a blend of short-form videos (30–90 seconds for social or ads) and long-form videos (2–5 minutes for explainers, testimonials, or deep dives).

Types we’ve produced:

• Explainers
• How-to tutorials
• Client testimonials
• Animated infographics
• Behind-the-scenes clips
• Founder/leadership insights

Presentations: Portable Authority

Presentation decks can be one of your most underutilized assets. Whether built for conference keynotes, sales meetings, or internal training, these slide decks can be easily converted into downloadable PDFs, blog content, social media posts, and even gated lead magnets.

Email: Your Direct Line to Revenue

Email marketing is the glue that ties your content together. It’s how you nurture leads who aren’t ready to buy, re-engage past clients, and alert your audience when something new is worth their time. Email consistently delivers one of the highest returns on investment (ROI) across marketing tactics. We recommend a hybrid approach:

• Newsletters that highlight recent content or product news
• Behavioral automations that nudge based on content interactions
• Lead-nurture sequences that follow a clear path from awareness to conversion

Social Media Posts: Micro-Content, Macro Impact

Every content asset you create can and should be atomized into social snippets. Short-form video clips, quote cards, key stat graphics, carousel posts, polls, and teaser blurbs are all ways to extend reach and engagement on LinkedIn, Instagram, X, and TikTok.

Pro Tip: Great content marketing isn’t about chasing every channel—it’s about stacking the right formats that support your brand narrative, align with your buyers’ journey, and build upon each other for maximum impact.

If you’re unsure where to start or how to scale, build out your core assets—articles, whitepapers, video, and case studies—and then atomize and amplify them across platforms. Content isn’t just marketing fuel—it’s your brand’s long-term equity.

How to Develop a Content Marketing Strategy

Surprisingly, the first step we take when working with clients is not research and development of a content calendar. Our first step is to analyze their current site and online authority, ensuring they can effectively guide a search marketing visitor, social media fan or follower, or other visitors through the lead generation process. Here are some questions we seek answers for:

• Is analytics properly deployed to ensure that you can measure the impact of your content marketing and attribute it to its source?
• Is your site properly optimized so that the content you develop can be found on relevant search engine results? Search engine optimization is a fundamental component of any content strategy.
• Is the content displayed and optimized so that it’s easily shareable on social media? The amplification you’ll get from social media can skyrocket your visits, conversions, and your search engine placement.
• Can the content be displayed appropriately on a mobile or tablet device? Some of our clients experience upwards of 40% of their traffic coming from mobile devices.

Once that foundation is in place, we work to research the content that your competitors are winning on, design a strategy that helps you compete, and develop a content calendar that will drive the momentum you need to drive down your cost per lead (CPL) while continuing to increase your share of voice (SOV), moving and improving the number of conversions, and ultimately increasing your return on marketing investment over time.

Organic content marketing may take more time than your company is comfortable with, so accelerating your content marketing strategy with paid advertising and promotion as well as public relations strategies can help you get many more leads quicker, test and measure your strategies efficiently, and expand your audience and influence effectively.

How Much Content Do We Need?

The mother of all questions asked by clients. Evaluating the volume of content requires extensive research. You’ll need to understand the questions that prospects and customers are asking about your industry and how you can position yourself to provide the relevant content. You’ll need to understand what mediums they seek out and how to present the information to them in the most effective way. You may also need to provide the content in different mediums – audio, video, text, graphics, etc.

Content marketing requires practice, testing, and continuous improvement to outperform your competitors. It’s not about producing more content, it’s about building a defined library of content that covers all the stages of the buyer’s journey to help guide them through to conversion.

Here’s a new section to lead into your discussion on costs, focusing on how generative AI is transforming the content marketing process—both its promise and its pitfalls:

How Generative AI Is Transforming Content Creation

Generative AI (GenAI) has significantly transformed the content marketing landscape. For businesses that have traditionally struggled with research, ideation, and consistency, AI offers powerful tools that accelerate production, enhance structure, and provide a springboard for creativity. These platforms can ingest vast datasets, summarize complex topics, organize content around strategic themes, and even mirror brand tone with surprising fidelity—if trained or guided correctly. With thoughtful prompts and the proper context, you can generate outlines, complete drafts, FAQs, summaries, and repurposed content at a scale that was previously unfeasible for most marketing teams.

This productivity leap has shifted the time and effort away from starting content toward refining it. Instead of spending hours writing from scratch, marketing teams are now investing those hours in refining AI-generated content, ensuring it is on-brand, emotionally resonant, and relevant to their audience. The technology excels at getting you 80% of the way there. Still, that last 20%—the human touch that understands your customer’s pain points, integrates strategic CTAs, and communicates in your unique voice—is where the magic happens.

That’s the caution. Without guidance, customization, and editorial oversight, AI can flood your channels with technically accurate but soulless content. It might check all the SEO boxes, but it misses the opportunity to create an authentic connection. It might talk about your product, but not to your prospect. It may mirror your industry language, but not your company’s personality.

Generative AI is not a replacement for your brand’s voice—it’s an amplifier. Used well, it enables you to produce more, faster, and wiser. Used poorly, it risks becoming just another source of noise. The goal isn’t just to publish—it’s to persuade. That still takes a human.

How Much Does Content Marketing Cost?

While the cost of content marketing can vary widely based on industry, goals, and competition, we recommend a starting monthly budget of $15,000—divided equally across three key initiatives. This balance gives you the resources to produce quality content, get it seen, and build credibility through media exposure. It’s also a practical framework for testing, learning, and optimizing as you go.

Here’s how we suggest allocating the initial investment:

• $5,000/month for Content Development: Invest this in producing high-quality, evergreen content such as long-form articles, infographics, videos, or podcasts. These assets serve as the foundation for your content library. Each piece should be rich in value, well-optimized for search, and mapped to a buyer stage or persona. Prioritize consistency—publishing one solid piece per week is a great starting pace.
• $5,000/month for Promotion: Great content needs distribution. Allocate this portion to amplify your articles through social advertising (LinkedIn, Meta, X), content syndication platforms, and native ads. This ensures your content doesn’t just sit on your blog waiting for organic discovery. Targeted promotion accelerates discovery and helps you validate which topics and formats perform best.
• $5,000/month for PR and Thought Leadership: This covers outreach to industry publications, podcasts, newsletters, and media outlets where your insights can be pitched as contributed articles, expert commentary, or interview opportunities. PR agencies typically charge a minimum of $5,000/month for these services, and while results may take longer to materialize, this is where long-term credibility and third-party validation are built.

Pro Tip: All promoted links and PR placements should use UTM parameters (e.g., utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=content_series_q2) to track which efforts are driving traffic, engagement, and conversions. This will allow you to build a clear attribution model over time.

Content marketing is a long-term investment. While paid ads cease to produce results the moment you stop funding them, great content retains residual value. Articles that rank in search, get shared, or are linked to from reputable sources can generate traffic and leads for years. With intelligent optimization, you can revive and repurpose old content to keep ROI climbing—something paid media simply can’t offer.

If you’re going to build something, build something that lasts. This budget and approach can get you there. Within a few months, you should begin to see momentum and a steady stream of leads generated. Within the year, you should be able to fully define your program and understand the costs associated with each lead. You can then shift and balance your budget between content development, promotion, and public relations to maximize the impact, reduce your cost per lead, and drive more leads or conversions.

Keep in mind that your competitors are likely adjusting their content marketing strategies simultaneously so that the competition may intensify or subside, requiring you to change your budget and expectations accordingly. We have clients that dominate content marketing because there’s a lack of competition, and we have clients that lag behind he competition simply because they can’t match the resources their competitors are applying. A great strategy can always help you squeeze out the competition, though!