More than a decade ago, not many influential celebrities turn to blogging to get a message across and impact a whole generation. Today, we find celebrities and famous personalities managing their own blog sites and trying to influence their target market. They talk about a host of many issues—politics, skin care, relationships, peer pressure, mental health—and hope to impact a whole generation of fans and supporters. Their foray into writing blogs may be one of the first things that launched the birth of content marketing.
While content marketing hopes to ultimately influence a customer to purchase an item through a change in his behavior, everything will begin in providing relevant information in the form of a blog, infographic, webinar, podcast, etc.
Let’s make an example. An influential personality is tasked to make a review about a baby stroller. Though she is not an official endorser of the product, having not signed any kind of contract or agreement with the manufacturer, she will be, in fact, directly influencing her loyal readers to either buy the product or forget about the product.
The common practice among social media influencers is to put a disclaimer before the article begins, wherein the blogger will disclaim any connection to the company though admitting that the product was sent to her for review. In most cases, the product will be given as a gift, especially if the review was positive and encouraging.
So, how is a simple blog turned into content marketing? The blogger will never make a hard sell to her readers. She will never try to persuade them to buy the product. What she will do is make a thorough review of the baby stroller, often putting it into a series of mommy tests such as its portability, travel friendliness, easy storage, number of compartments, and comfort to the baby.
She will talk about the features of the stroller and might even make a comparison with another stroller. She will enumerate any drawbacks (if there are any) of the item and will make sure to provide readers with a thorough review that will produce either a positive or negative reaction.
Though the blog will not try to sell the item, it will present a information to the readers that will influence them to, mostly, buy the product (most bloggers are careful about criticizing to the ground a product lest they face a lawsuit).
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