We are living in the e-marketing era, where traditional marketing methods have been challenged by what we often refer to as the new media. TV ads have been supplanted by web-based video such as YouTube; direct mail has been kicked to the curb by e-mail marketing; celebrity endorsements have taken it on the chin by social media followings, likes and shares. These new marketing mediums have come about partly because they are less costly to produce and can give you a more accurate reading on how your target market is responding to your products. But they also have emerged with the values and attitudes of the Millennial Generation. Suspecting the sincerity of corporate advertising, especially anything that sounds like a "pitch,” Millennials turned to a more subtle way of finding out what you have to offer: content marketing.

Content marketing can take several forms. You are reading our content marketing efforts in this article. Blogs where you are sharing some of your expertise for free, case studies or expert opinion posts on social media, and "how to” videos are all examples of content marketing. The one common element is what they don’t do: try to close a sale at the end of the content.

So how do you know when you are being effective with content marketing? I am a firm believer that marketing leads people to buy your products and services. If you are not driving them to a point of sale, you are just wasting time, money and effort. Without a clear way to gauge your effectiveness, how do you know content marketing is having any impact on converting people who "like” your content into real live paying customers? There are several ways to measure this. First, keep an eye on your analytical statistics. You should be able to tell how many people viewed your content marketing piece, where they are located, and decipher if they are in your target market. This is where a very good delivery system and analytics software will help you. If your content marketing is not being read or is being read by the wrong demographic, change it. Second, follow up with those who respond to you. If they comment on your blog post, like content on your social media site, share your video, click through your e-mail blast; make sure you are reaching out to them. It can be as simple as saying thank you to them. Content marketing is made to be subtle. It is designed to open the door, not kick it in. Respond in like manner and you will find that the door will be opened for your sale.

The other way I see content marketing at work takes a listening ear on your behalf. You will know you are being effective when your customer repeats back to you something you said in your content marketing efforts. When your client states the benefits of your products or services back to you, you will know your content marketing is working for you. This happened to me recently. I had coined a term to describe one of our client’s products which we published on their web site and promoted through e-mail marketing campaigns. I was talking to a customer who mentioned the product and used the same term to describe it. The customer did not even recognize he was stating back to me what I had pushed to him in content marketing.

Keep in mind that content marketing is not just wasted advice. It is meant to draw a potential customer closer to a sale. It just gives them more power to read or listen to your expertise on their own terms instead of being prodded into a sale. With the millennial generation who are estimated to be 80 million people in the U.S., it is imperative marketing tool. Use it wisely.

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Photo by Ivelin Radkov