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I'm delighted to introduce Bambi Gordon from The Woo as the first guest blogger at Global Copywriting. Dedicated to B2B and small business marketing, she's one of those irritatingly talented people who can simplify complex problems and cut to the heart of an issue. You'll want to check out her series of super helpful FREE lunchtime webinars at The Brew. Lastly, make sure you follow Bambi on Twitter – @DoTheWoo. She's one of my all-time favourite tweeps, as much for her sense of humour as her marketing acumen.

In this post, Bambi argues content marketing is nothing until you have a sound marketing strategy to back it up. Over to Bambi:

Have you noticed despite the current tally of humans on this planet – 6,775,235,741 give or take a few hundred thousand at last count – there are only two sorts of people in the world?

Let me show you.

• WikiLeaks Those who are for. And those who are against.[*]Social Media Some people `get it' and think it's an invaluable networking tool, bringing us closer together and changing the dynamic of consumerism.

  And others can't turn the computer on.[*]"Two and a Half Men" There are those who find it amusing. And the rest of us who run screaming from the room even when a promo comes on.

You get the idea.

The Great Divide of Marketing
It's no surprise when it comes to marketing there are also two distinct groups – those who believe in setting strategy and those who leap straight into `doing' things.

The vast majority fall into the second group, which equals a lot of people who are wasting a huge pile of marketing moolah.

Have a look at the marketing tactics around you. Can you remember a really worthy TV ad, or billboard, or blog? Do you actually remember the brand concerned? What was the call to action? Did it change your behaviour as a result? There is a good chance all that wasted marketing activity was instigated by folk who hadn't set a marketing strategy in the first place.

Online promotion, advertising, even Content Marketing is tactical. And tactics without strategy are totally hit or miss. They may or may not get traction. They might but probably won't deliver a return on investment.

Setting your strategy is all about asking questions about your customers.

• Who are they?
• What do they want?
• What does your product or service need to deliver to satisfy their needs?
• What is the personality or brand value you can convey that they will find appealing?

Once you have answered these questions you can select the tactics that put the right message in front of the right people, positioning your brand within the mind of your potential customers (Yes in their mind, not in the marketplace).

So, where does Content Marketing fit in to that strategy? It doesn't. Nor does advertising. Or social media. Or promotions. Or direct mail.

Starting a blog, developing a white paper, investing in a case study, and producing videos are the communication tactics that you have at your disposal to execute your strategy – the activities that make up your marketing plan, that you constantly tweak, fine tune, and improve upon as you build your business and generate results.

Do you believe in Strategy? Or do you jump straight into the tactics?

Are you one of us, or one of them?

When it comes to marketing, especially Content Marketing, you need to have a foot in both camps.

What do you think?

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