‘Content is king’ – Bill Gates, 1st March 1996

It’s been more than 20 years since the statement was made and people still wonder why content marketing doesn’t work for them. The truth is, it does work. But only if you are 100% committed to it.

This got me thinking about the tenuous connection between content marketing and Coeliac Disease. It turned out not to be so tenuous after all.

I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease back in 2012 after two years of feeling sick, tired, irritable and blow up like the fat kid from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory pretty much every time I put something in my mouth.

What is Coeliac Disease?

Coeliac Disease, for those who don’t know, is a long-term autoimmune disorder of the small intestine in people who are genetically predisposed to the condition. Anything with gluten in it is off limits or you face the consequences of the symptoms above. The treatment? A life-long gluten-free diet. No cheating. And you would be amazed at how many of your favourite foods contain gluten.

You can cheat. You can have that slice of chocolate cake if you really want right? It’s totally ok to have a hard day, realise it’s been months since some gluten has passed your lips and eat an entire loaf of bread isn’t it? Other than feeling pretty rubbish, here’s what you might be setting yourself up for:

• Significantly increased risk of
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Fertility issues
  • Lymphoma
  • Bowel cancer
  • Low birth-weight babies (this is surprisingly common in women with uncontrolled Coeliac Disease)
  • Bone loss
  • Further dietary intolerances

Makes you think twice about that loaf of bread doesn’t it? The tough thing with controlling this condition is the commitment needed. It isn’t easy. it takes time and patience to work out what you can and can’t eat. You need to gain experience on which gluten-free foods work for you. Most of all you need serious will power. After a while you’re going to really miss real bread.

Coeliac Disease and content marketing – really?

Content marketing works the same way as controlling Coeliac Disease. It only works when you are 100% committed to it.

Long gone are the days where you could throw up the occasional blog article and cover off a few key words to keep your SEO score high. Google (the gluten of the internet) sneaks into everything. Your blog has probably been blogged about before so getting truly unique content is hard. Search results don’t bring back as many vaguely relevant landing pages anymore so your keywords need to be well researched and relevant.

Now you have to carefully identify the audience you want to target, outdo the competition and most importantly, bring value to your target audience. If you don’t do that, your content isn’t going to do anything for your brand. And making it work for your brand takes time, patience and experience (all of which Elastic Creative has lots of #shamelessplug).

What can content marketing do for your business?

When you see what it can do for you when it’s done right, it makes you reconsider that commitment. It can help expand your business and put your company in with the big thought leaders of your industry. Most importantly it can win you more business. It give you an opportunity to connect with your audience more gently, building trust in your brand.

If you fancy having a chat with us about content marketing (or any other form of digital marketing) get in touch.