If so, you might find a kindred spirit in Tim Matthews, a former content marketing curmudgeon. He outlines how he went from skeptical to promoter.
I understand his resistance to the term 'content marketing'. When I first encountered it, it seemed like a slightly pointless label to apply to something that felt natural.
[And yes, it can go too far sometimes, not everything needs to be re-labelled with 'content', books and movies do not need to be called "content distributors" for instance.]
I've been thinking about labels a lot today, having been on a panel earlier on a 'Pop Art vs High Art' debate. I do feel that labels are useful not only as an umbrella you can place different techniques under, but also as something you can react to and push back against. So I too have embraced the label, as a handy way of explaining a marketing technique that puts the reader-customer first.
Content marketing is basically your virtual shop window and shop assistant rolled in one: it's there to attract and inform customers before they even think about heading to the till. Unlike a shop, the form it takes can be varied: from blogs, to videos, to quizzes, and more. What they all have in common, when successful, is their relevance to the customer - whether they explain a thorny issue, or entertain them into coming back for more content.

/Passle/53d0c8edb00e7e0540c9b34b/MediaLibrary/Images/2026-01-12-10-16-56-904-6964ca18ab784af100f11853.jpg)
/Passle/53d0c8edb00e7e0540c9b34b/MediaLibrary/Images/2026-10-01-15-23-54-864-6abe7b0a4566f4ad0941a712.jpeg)
/Passle/53d0c8edb00e7e0540c9b34b/MediaLibrary/Images/2026-10-01-20-27-25-412-6abec22d4566f4ad09424e2d.png)
/Passle/53d0c8edb00e7e0540c9b34b/MediaLibrary/Images/2026-10-01-20-02-10-008-6abebc42d57b9b5290e5c998.png)
/Passle/53d0c8edb00e7e0540c9b34b/MediaLibrary/Images/2026-09-17-10-24-29-092-6aabbfdd4a11247c361945e2.png)