"Content marketing has become central to digital marketing strategy. Its objective is simple: create genuinely useful or entertaining content for many specific niches of your target audience—not to overtly promote your business, but to build rapport and brand equity—and give it away for free." —Scott Brinker

In content marketing, the objective is simple, but the execution isn't. Content takes a lot of time, energy, and effort to produce. And even when you think you're doing it right, your efforts may still fall flat.

The problem with content creation isn't the creation itself; rather, it's what to do with each piece after you are done with it. Content isn't a one and done; it should be reused, repurposed, optimized for SEO, and promoted across multiple channels, multiple times.

Even more than twenty years ago, Bill Gates knew what he was talking about when he wrote that content is king: He wasn't too far off when he said, "Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet."

Content creation is a craft that takes effort to master, but companies of all sizes can use and benefit from content marketing.

Marketers understand that good content marketing may not happen overnight, but that doesn't mean you should try to make do without it.