Case Study: Content Marketing

A lot of brands understand the importance of social media, but explaining what the difference between posting an advertisement and content marketing is can be a bit complicated to say the least.

As a brand, you have a target demographic. This target demographic, if targeted correctly, can become your audience. As an audience they don't want to see commercials (most people fast forward through those these days, don't they?) -- they want to see real, fresh and relevant(!) content.

There's no easy equation to what your ideal content is. Depending on your audience it may be facts, funny photos, interesting or new products, found objects or even the weather.

Here's a great example "case study":

Coffee & Cakes is a quaint coffee shop in a growing, but small town outside of a major city. They recently opened up in the small town, offering a comfortable environment filled with fresh brewed coffee, sandwiches and, yes, cakes.

Even before opening their doors Coffee & Cakes had adopted Facebook as their main social platform. They created a facebook page where they could build an audience (targeted locally, of course) and grow awareness about their store. Every morning owner Mark Robinson posts what's on their menu, what the weather is like and occasionally an interesting factoid.


People in the community have come to appreciate this morning greeting and often stop into the store because of the wake up call being in their Facebook feed each day. A simple reminder of "hey, we're here!" doesn't have to be so in your face. This type of content sets a tone that says, "we're here ready to serve you whenever you feel like dropping by!" and they meet that with excellent customer service.

Mark responds to every comment and post on his Facebook page personally and has really given a soul to their brand.

This is such a great example of small business utilizing social media as the foundation for their marketing, and creating fresh content on a daily basis that is engaging to their community.