Quick answer
Content marketing is creating and sharing useful content for a clear audience, so that over time some of those people become customers. An ad says “buy our product.” Content marketing says “here is something useful.” The goal is the same, sales, but the path is different.
Every term, I start my Content Marketing course with the same question: who was the first content marketer? Most students guess a YouTuber or a big tech company. The answer is a printer in Philadelphia, almost 300 years ago.
That surprises people, and it is the best way I know to explain what content marketing really is. The channels change every few years. The idea underneath has not changed at all.
This article follows the first class of the course I teach at Canadian College in Vancouver. I wrote it for my students, and for anyone who wants a clear, practical explanation without the jargon.
What is content marketing?
The simplest definition comes from Joe Pulizzi, who helped make the term popular: content marketing is creating and sharing useful content to attract a clear audience, and lead them to buy.
Inside that sentence there are three conditions. If one is missing, it is not content marketing.
- Valuable. It helps, teaches or entertains. People would want it even if no brand was attached.
- A clear audience. It is made for one type of person, not for everyone.
- Profitable. In the end, it brings customers to the business.
A funny video with no audience in mind is entertainment. A useful guide that never connects back to the business is a hobby. Content marketing needs all three.
How is content marketing different from advertising?
Both want the same thing: sales. The difference is the direction. An ad pushes a message toward you. Content marketing pulls you in, because you went looking for something and the brand had the answer.
Diagram 1
Ads push. Content pulls.
Traditional ad: the brand pays to put a message in front of you, whether you asked for it or not.
Content marketing: you go looking for help, and the brand is there with the answer.
| Traditional ad | Content marketing | |
|---|---|---|
| It says | “Buy our product.” | “Here is something useful.” |
| It talks about | The brand | Your problem or interest |
| Why you see it | The brand pays to show it | You look for it, because you want it |
Here is a quick test I give my students. Imagine the logo is removed. Would a person still search for it, save it or share it? If yes, it is probably content. If its only job is to announce a price, it is an ad. Both are useful. They just do different jobs.
Where did content marketing come from? A short history
Content marketing feels like an internet idea, but it is much older. The name is new. The practice is not.
Timeline
From paper to pixels: key moments in content marketing
- 1732Print that helpsBenjamin Franklin’s almanac: weather, puzzles and advice that also promoted his printing business.
- 1939It looked like newsBeech-Nut paid for a newspaper section about its World’s Fair circus, with its coffee and gum inside the story.
- 1960sCustomer storiesGMC printed full-page stories from real truck owners. An early testimonial.
- 2001A new nameJoe Pulizzi and Penton Custom Media start using the term “content marketing”.
- TodayEvery screenBlogs, videos, podcasts and social posts. The channels changed. The idea did not.
1732: Benjamin Franklin’s almanac
In Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin printed Poor Richard’s Almanack, a small book that came out every year. It had weather forecasts, puzzles and practical advice that every family could use. It was not an ad. But its real goal was to promote Franklin’s printing business, and it worked: the almanac ran for about 25 years and sold around 10,000 copies a year.
1939 and the 1960s: stories that sell
At the 1939 World’s Fair, Beech-Nut paid for a newspaper section about its mechanical circus. It read like news, with the company’s coffee and gum placed inside the story. In the 1960s, GMC printed full-page stories from real owners, like a brick company owner praising his trucks. Today we would call that a testimonial.
2001 to today: a name, then every screen
Around 2001, Joe Pulizzi and Penton Custom Media started using the term “content marketing”. Since then it has grown into a full strategy, delivered through blogs, videos, podcasts and social posts. Franklin would recognize all of it.
What does content marketing look like? Five real brands
Theory is easier to remember when you can see it. These are five examples I use in class, from the United States and Canada.
Pillsbury: recipes that sell
Nobody searches for “pie crust”. People search for “chicken pot pie”. Pillsbury’s website shares hundreds of free recipes, and the first ingredient is usually a Pillsbury product. The product is part of the answer, not an interruption.
Whirlpool: answer the question people already have
Fridges are expensive, so owners try to fix them before buying a new one. Whirlpool published an article called “Why Is My Refrigerator Not Cooling? 7 Possible Causes and Fixes”, and it ranks near the top of Google for that question. This is SEO, search engine optimization, working as content marketing: help first, then repair service, then maybe a new fridge.
REI: close the store, win the customer
In 2015, the outdoor retailer REI closed all its stores on Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, and paid its staff to go outside. The hashtag #OptOutside invited people to share photos outdoors. By 2017, about 8 million people had taken part. REI gave up one day of sales and gained a story that customers still connect with the brand.
Tim Hortons: coffee, or hockey?
In 2018, Tim Hortons brought the Ice Lions, Kenya’s only ice hockey team, to Canada to play with NHL stars Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon. A short video became a 20-minute documentary, The Away Game, shown on Sportsnet. There is very little coffee in it. There is a lot of what Tim Hortons wants Canadians to feel about the brand.
Canadian Tire: let customers make the content
Since 2013, Canadian Tire has asked real Canadians to test products in real Canadian weather. A product needs 4 stars or more to earn the “Tested” badge, and those reviews and videos then appear on TV, social media, flyers and in store. According to Strategy Online, tested products sold more than the year before.
| Brand | Format | What is useful | How it sells |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pillsbury | Recipe pages | A dinner idea | The recipe needs its product |
| Whirlpool | Blog article | A fix for a broken fridge | Repair service and new appliances |
| REI | Campaign and social posts | A reason to go outside | Loyalty to a brand with values |
| Tim Hortons | Documentary video | A story worth watching | Emotional connection |
| Canadian Tire | Customer reviews and videos | Honest product tests | Trust at the moment of purchase |
How do people consume media today?
Your audience is not waiting for your content. They are moving between many screens and many channels, with very little time.
Media today
A third of the day goes to digital media
- Many channels. Social media, email, search, word of mouth and outdoor ads all compete for the same person.
- A lot of time online. People spend almost 8 hours a day with digital media.
- So brands must stay useful. Give value again and again, or people forget you.
When people spend almost 8 hours a day with digital media, a single good post is not enough. The brands that win are the ones that stay useful, week after week.
B2C and B2B: two very different buyers
B2C means business to consumer: a company selling to a person. B2B means business to business: a company selling to another company. They buy in completely different ways, so their content must be different too.
B2C vs B2B
How many times a buyer meets a brand before buying
B2C, like Tim Hortons
People buy for themselves, often on impulse. Content has to give quick value and build trust.
B2B, like Shopify
A business buys with a planned budget and several people involved. Content has to teach and show expertise.
B2C customers can decide in seconds. They buy in the moment, without a plan, especially when the price is low: coffee, snacks, makeup. Research also shows that personalized social media ads increase this kind of impulse buying. B2B buyers are the opposite. They compare, they ask colleagues, they wait for a budget. This is why a coffee brand and a software company should never copy each other’s content plan.
How should you use generative AI in content marketing?
Generative AI creates new content, text, images or video, from your instructions, which we call a prompt. ChatGPT launched in late 2022 and reached 100 million users by January 2023. Few tools have changed the daily work of marketers so quickly.
I use these tools every week at work, for first drafts, research and reporting. I also rewrite this part of my course every term, because it dates faster than everything else combined. What I tell my students does not change: treat AI like a fast junior assistant. It is helpful, confident and sometimes wrong. The checking is your job.
Generative AI
Three risks to watch, and what to do about each
Hallucinations
The tool invents answers that sound true but are false, including statistics and quotes.
Do this: check every fact in a trusted source.
Plagiarism
The tool can repeat other people’s work, and you may not notice.
Do this: rewrite in your own words and add your own experience.
Bias
It learns from people, so it repeats their biases about gender, race and religion.
Do this: check who is shown, and how.
A real case from British Columbia
A customer asked Air Canada’s website chatbot about cheaper fares after a death in the family. The chatbot gave wrong information. Air Canada argued that the chatbot was responsible, not the airline. In February 2024, the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal disagreed: the company is responsible for everything on its website, and Air Canada had to pay (Moffatt v. Air Canada, 2024 BCCRT 149).
If AI writes it, your brand owns it.
Try it yourself: the content detective exercise
This is the in-class assignment from the first class. It works just as well if you are not my student. Give yourself 40 minutes, and do it without AI tools: the point is to train your own eye.
- Choose a brand from Canada or the US. Is it B2C or B2B? Describe its audience in one or two sentences.
- Find three pieces of its content: a blog post, a video, a podcast or a social post. For each one, note the format, the value it gives (does it teach, help or entertain?) and decide whether it is content marketing or an ad, and why.
- Suggest one new idea for that brand: a title, a format, a channel and the reason the audience would want it.
Some brands that work well for this: Tim Hortons, Lululemon, Arc’teryx, Canadian Tire, Roots, Shopify, REI, Whirlpool and Sephora.
Three ideas to take with you
- Content marketing gives value first. Sales come later.
- Know your buyer. B2C decides fast; B2B needs many contacts.
- Use AI as a helper, and always check its work.
Frequently asked questions
What is content marketing in simple words?
Content marketing is making useful things, like articles, videos, guides or podcasts, for a specific group of people. You help them first. Over time, some of them trust you enough to buy from you.
Who invented content marketing?
Nobody invented it in one day. Benjamin Franklin’s almanac, first printed in 1732, is often called one of the first examples because it gave useful information while promoting his printing business. The term itself started to be used around 2001 by Joe Pulizzi and Penton Custom Media.
What is the difference between content marketing and advertising?
An ad talks about the brand and pays to be seen. Content marketing talks about the audience’s problem or interest, and people look for it because they want it. Both aim for sales; they take different paths.
What are good examples of content marketing?
Pillsbury’s recipe pages, Whirlpool’s article on why a fridge is not cooling, REI’s #OptOutside campaign, Tim Hortons’ documentary The Away Game and Canadian Tire’s Tested for Life in Canada program are all strong examples.
Is content marketing only for big brands?
No. A local clinic answering common questions in short videos, or a small bakery sharing recipes, uses the same idea. What matters is a clear audience and content that is genuinely useful to them.
Can I use AI to write content marketing?
Yes, as a helper. AI is useful for drafts and ideas, but it can invent facts, copy other people’s work and repeat biases. Check every fact, rewrite in your own words and remember that your brand is responsible for everything it publishes.
Sources
- Joe Pulizzi, Epic Content Marketing (2013). Definition simplified for class.
- Content Marketing Institute: history of content marketing; REI #OptOutside (2017).
- Charles A. Goodrich, on Benjamin Franklin and Poor Richard’s Almanack.
- LBB Online (2018), Tim Hortons The Away Game, agency Zulu Alpha Kilo, Toronto.
- Strategy Online (2015), Canadian Tire Tested for Life in Canada.
- Statista (2025), daily time spent with digital media, as cited in the course reading.
- Stukent, Figure 1.3.1; Digital Authority Partners; B2Bmarketing.net; Zafar et al., ScienceDirect.
- Chen, Zaharia and Zou, Stanford (2023); Elkhatat, International Journal for Educational Integrity; Harvard Data Science Review.
- Moffatt v. Air Canada, 2024 BCCRT 149, BC Civil Resolution Tribunal.
