Content marketing is hot, or so it seems. But content is not enough. Content, no matter how good the quality, is useless if nobody consumes it.

Twenty years ago, web masters would tell you: “If you build it, they will come”. They were the visitors. They would come alright; there wasn’t much choice and every new website was a revelation by itself. Later, design started to play a role. Then big business kicked in and had a whole army of designers, programmers and SEO’ers build websites, and “they” didn’t come just because you started a new website.

It’s the same with content marketing. A large number of the content marketing advisors that I see on the web, are still living in the cocoon of “good content means more eyeballs”, but in fact it’s the other way around. More eyeballs means better content, because you can monetize your “publication” when a lot of people visit.

Yes, you need good content, but you’ll also need a network of media to push that content into, and ideally you’ll also have an audience that is willing to communicate about your content through various channels with people that are beyond your own reach.

It can be done, but it’s not easy and it is time consuming. When it’s done right, you are a real content marketer, but also a content curator and syndicator. And that’s where it becomes interesting for business.