Custom Media vs. Content Marketing

I conducted an informal survey of approximately 50 of my colleagues in the industry regarding content marketing.  About 35 percent were marketers and association professionals, with the remaining 65 percent being media or publishing professionals.

Here are the quick results:

To the question:  “Which term best represents this definition: ‘Relevant and valuable information delivered by a company or association to a targeted audience, with the purpose of changing or fostering a behavior,’ ” I received the following answers.

1. Custom media – 32 percent

2. Content marketing – 32 percent

3. Custom content – 22 percent

4. Custom publishing – 14 percent

The last time I conducted this survey, it was split between custom publishing and custom media.  Content marketing was barely mentioned.  This tells me that the industry is moving closer to this term. This was particularly surprising since the majority of survey-takers were media professionals, who tend to live in the world of custom publishing.

I’ll try this again in 6 months.  Let’s see if the trend continues.