Content marketing has come a long way over the past few years, with businesses and marketers realising the importance of creating valuable content that resonates with their target audience.  

As we enter 2023, this dynamic marketing landscape continues to evolve and shift, with new technologies and strategies emerging to help brands stand out in a crowded online space.  

According to Tomie Sato, a Digital Marketing Tutor at NZIE, this field offers a lot of creative freedom and is exciting to work in. She shares her insights into the industry, plus how she got her foot in the door and landed an exciting role.  

What is Content Marketing? A definition 

Content Marketing – by definition – is  “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

Examples include blogs, newsletters, podcasts, social media posts, and videos. You are reading a piece of content marketing right now! This marketing style boosts brand identity and is a great way to connect with customers in an engaging and valuable way.  

An exciting field 

One of the exciting parts of this marketing field is the ability to create content that resonates with the audience, as opposed to traditional advertising methods pushing products to consumers. Sato explains, “The exciting part of content marketing is probably the aspect you get to create the content itself. So, you have a lot of creative freedom around that.” It covers a broad scope, and there is room for creativity and innovation in creating different types of content. 

Challenges in content marketing 

Despite the exciting aspects, there are challenges to the field. The vast scope of content marketing makes it difficult to know every aspect of it. According to Sato, “To be able to be up to date with every single aspect of content marketing will be very challenging.” With the digital world moving so fast, keeping up with new trends and technologies is challenging. 

Sato recommends that content marketers continue to upskill and study digital marketing to remain on the pulse. 

“Always continue learning because in the digital space, trends are constantly evolving, and there are always new tools and new techniques emerging. It helps if you are up to date.” 

Check out NZIE’s range of Digital Marketing courses, from a full Diploma in Digital Marketing to various short courses.  

Exciting trends in content marketing for 2023 

Sato is excited about the Artificial Intelligence (AI) trend emerging in marketing. AI is a tool that can be utilized to create effective and responsive content. However, Sato advises against relying entirely on AI and suggests using it for inspiration rather than taking over the entire creative process. Sato emphasizes the importance of the human aspect in all marketing, as people connect with people, not robots. 

Tips to Succeed

Sato advises focusing on the content style that interests you the most. Instead of trying to learn everything, it’s better to focus on a specific area and make mistakes to learn from them. Sato believes that making mistakes and learning from them is more effective than trying to be perfect. 

“Just go for it and explore! You can always go back if you need to learn a particular area or dive deeper.” 

From graphic design: Tomie Sato’s journey 

Sato’s journey to content marketing was not a straightforward path. As a graphic designer, Sato had to learn about creating content, such as social media, as part of the job requirements. Sato explains, “For a graphic designer, it’s not just graphic design anymore. You have to know content marketing well.” Eventually, Sato found a passion for this marketing style and pursued it as a career. 

“It just naturally happened for me to go into that field. I didn’t choose it – it chose me!” 

Creative Freedom 

This is an exciting field that offers a lot of creative freedom. However, it comes with its challenges, including the vast scope and keeping up with new trends. To succeed in the industry, it’s essential to focus on a particular area of interest and be willing to make mistakes to learn from them. As Sato’s journey shows, finding a passion for content marketing is possible even if it wasn’t the original plan. 

You can check out Tomie’s work at her website: https://www.satomicdesign.com/