The History of Content Marketing
Content Marketing often feels like a discipline that sprung up in the last decade. In fact, marketers have understood the value of content for over 100 years. Here’s a look at how the industry evolved:
- 1895: John Deere launches The Furrow, a customer magazine.
- 1900: The Michelin Guides are first published. Tire maker Michelin encourages long distance driving by providing car owners with a maintenance, hotel, and restaraunt guide.
- 1904: Jell-O gives out a recipe book. In two years, sales have spiked to $1 million.
- 1913: Burns & McDonnell, an engineering consulting firm, publishes Benchmark magazine: a discussion of engineering best practices that helps them build credibility within their industry.
- 1922: World’s Largest Store is launched by Sears & Roebuck. A radio program, WLS used a powerful transmitter to reach isolated settlements in the American midwest, expanding Sears’ mail order customer base.
- 1930: Procter & Gamble begins to sponsor radio shows, giving rise to the term “soap opera.”
- 1982: G.I. Joe comic book created by Marvel and Hasbro, allowing the latter to sell action figures to comic book readers on an unprecedented scale.
- 1985: “Customer Magazines” expand aggresively in the UK. Companies such as Sky Broadcasting distribute magazines to all of their subsrcibers.
- 1987: LEGO launches what will become LEGO Club magazine.
- 1998: The Custom Publishing Council, a trade association for content marketers, is founded.
- 2001: $20 Billion is spent on custom content. The term “Content Marketing” is first used to describe the industry.
- 2004: STIR Magazine, a publication of Sherwin Williams, is distributed by the paint firm to designers and architects. Microsoft launches Channel 9, their corporate blog, becoming the largest company to do so.
- 2005: LiveVault, an IT company, commisions a promotional video from John Cleese. It is downloaded 250,000 times, a massive number before the existence of YouTube.
- 2006: Nike+ is launched by Nike and Apple. A free run tracking service, it encourages consumers to buy both companies products.
- 2007: Red Bulletin is first distributed by Red Bull. The magazine profiles extreme sports such as air racing, parachuting, and Formula 1. The Will it Blend video series begins; created by blender manufacturer BlendTec, the videos depict the destruction of popular devices such as the iPhone in a high powered blender. BlendTec’s revenue surges 700%.
- 2008: OPEN Forum, a discussion board for small business owners, is created by American Express. Page views on AmEx’s website are 23 times greater by 2010.
- 2010: 25% of marketing budgets are spent on content marketing, 88% of firms now employ it. In the UK, content marketers spend £1 Billion.
- 2011: Coca Cola announces plan to re-orient the majority of their marketing to focus on branded storytelling.
- 2015: Content marketers flood platforms like YouTube and Reddit, prompting backlash from non-commercial users.
- 2016: Mexican themed, US based restaraunt Taco Bell begins highly effective Snapchat campaign. Rather than merely placing ads they interact with users organically and playfully.
It is clear then, that content marketing has become an integral part of the marketing portfolio for most major firms. With the ubiquity of the internet, its power will only grow, as users seek seemingly authentic experiences on a web rife with advertisements.