Content marketing is defined as,

…a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience—with the objective of driving profitable customer action.

But the debate over quality versus quantity is still raging. I say quality over quantity is important because if a reader is not moved to action by what you’re writing then it was a waste of both the reader’s and the writer’s time.

The goal of content marketing is giving your business a face, utilizing SEO, instituting your company as a thought leader, instigating customer loyalty, helping with public relations, and giving your company material to post on social media.

Five specific reasons why content is king include:

1. SEO- The more unique and individualized your content the higher it will rank on search engines.
2. Engagement- Quality content will draw the reader to the action of sharing or really absorbing a company’s values and/or ideas.
3. Generates leads- Good content creates brand awareness in such an expansive market.
4. Increases traffic- A website with quality and engaging content is more likely to receive traffic than a website without quality content.
5. Increases quality of your product or service- Practical advices as well as usages of a company’s product or services builds a good relationship between company and customer.

The phrase, “Content is king,” sums up some great principles for content marketing.

1. Quality over quantity
2. Content is paramount to social media marketing

After evaluating these two fundamentals, it is prudent to re-visit this check-list after creating your quality content:

1. Is your content easy to navigate?
2. Is your content descriptive and accurate?
3. Is your content formatted to ensure easy skimming and reading?
4. Is your content engaging?
5. Does your content include graphics and other relevant media?
6. Is your content actionable?
7. Is your content relevant to your chosen search engine queries?

Although it may seem that the amount of content one generates is important, one must remember quantity means nothing unless the content is engaging, easy to read, unique, and primed for SEO. It is quality not quantity content that is an important tool in push versus pull marketing strategies.