Back to the Future: A Visual History Of Content Marketing [Infographic]

BACK I THE FUTURE CONTENT MARKETING (IEDITIDN A VISUAL HISTORY OF CONTENT MARKETING Well Marty, you've saved yourself from never being born, thwarted Biff's attempts to drive your parents apart, and rescued me from being trapped in 1885. But we've still got work to do. Many people think content marketing is a new idea, when in fact it's been around for quite some time! We're going an a journey through the history of content marketing to check out some important milestones. Hop in the DeLorean and away we go! 1. YEAR A REALLY LONG TIME AGO, B.C. CAVE PAINTINGS The earliest evidence of cave paintings - and communication through content – are said to be in Malaga, Spain, where seal-like images left by Neanderthals were discovered. YEAR THE GREAT 1835 МOON HOAХ The New York Sun became the largest newspaper in circulation at the time after running a series of articles about the "scientific discovery" of life on the moon. Though this was revealed as a hoax soon after, their readership continued to grow – proving the timeless power of unique content! The Sun RURROW JOHN DEER'S Furrow Furrow YER 1895 THE FURROW John Deere's consumer magazine is often referred to as the unofficial birth of brand publishing. It started as a quarterly magazine with ads, articles, and agriculture tips, and its success has made it a content marketing legend. ODE MICHE 4. THE MICHELIN YEAR 1900 GUIDES Michelin (yes, the tire company) published its first guidebook for French motorists in 1900, which expanded into a series for different countries. It's now one of the premier restaurant reviewers, with chefs across the globe striving to land as many of those 3 coveted Michelin Stars as they can. 5. JELL-O'S YEAR 1904 RECIPE BOOK A recipe book may not seem groundbreaking now, but it was in 1904 when Jell-O started delivering their gelatin- and pudding-inspired dessert recipes door-to-door. It's no surprise that they've since taken their recipe book online and continue to build relationships with their customers through (delicious) content marketing. SEARS' YEAR WES 1924 "WORLD'S LARGEST STORE" RADIO SHOW In order to target the lucrative farming market, Sears created the Sears-Roebuck Agricultural Foundation and bought radio time under the callsign, the "World's Largest Store." While their main focus was farming, they also opened up the station to music and comedy programs as well. G.I. JOE A REAL 1982 AMERICAN HERO YER In 1982, Marvel and Hasbro teamed up to create the "Real American Hero" comic book and TV series based on the G.I. Joe action figure. This innovative cross-channel promotion turned G.I. Joe into a household name who remains one of the most be- loved action heros to this day. 8. ONLINE CONTENT AND YEAR 1994 THE BIRTH OF INTERNET It's hard to imagine a time before the Internet, but it was only 1994 that it became mainstream! In 1993, OʻReilly & Associates launched the first commercial website with a section dedicated to "The Online Whole Internet Catalog" with 529 entries and a year later, Netscape Communications was born. 9. YEAR SETH GODIN INTRODUCES 2000 THE FREE EBOOK Leave it to marketing master Seth Godin to create one of the most popular eBooks of all time. In 2000, he offered his "Unleashing the Ideavirus" eBook for free, a revolutionary idea at the time. It has since been downloaded over 1 million times and been credited as the inspi- ration for a new content format. 10. BLENDTEC'S YEAR 2006 "WILL IT BLEND?" VIDEOS How do you make blenders interesting? With fun content! In 2006, Blendtec upload their first "Will It Blend?" video to YouTube, putting marbles into their super-powered blender. They've since blended a Rubik's Cube, silly putty, and even an iPhone, and now have over 700,000 subscribers. 11. MARCUS SHERIDAN YEAR 2009 SAVES RIVER POOLS AND SPAS Marcus Sheridan's pool business was on the brink of failure until he channeled the power of content and started blogging answers to common customer questions. River Pools and Spas is now the most-visited pool website in the world and Marcus has gone on to become a marketing and sales expert. YERR 12. 2013 CONTENT HUBS f Uberflip debuted Hubs in 2013 and since then, the centralization of content has taken off as a means of driving engagement and generating leads. What will 2014 and beyond bring us in the wild world of content marketing? We can't wait to find out! CREATED BY 4überflip 1/ contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/02/history-content-marketing-infographic www.newscientist.com/article/dn21458-first-neanderthal-cave-paintings-discovered-in-spain.html#.VBBYEFIDX18 2/ www.marketingprofs.com/pics/2011/5513/a-brief-history-of-content-marketing-slide-show 3, 4, 5, 7/ hub.uberflip.com/h/i/11305110-a-brief-history-of-content-marketing-its-not-as-new-as-you-think 6/ contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/02/history-content-marketing-infographic/) www.wlshistory.com/WLS20 8/ www.marketingprofs.com/pics/2011/5513/a-brief-history-of-content-marketing-slide-show 9/ www.marketingprofs.com/pics/2011/5513/a-brief-history-of-content-marketing-slide-show 10/ www.youtube.com/user/Blendtec 11/ www.thesaleslion.com/york-times-praises-marcus-sheridans-content-marketing-approach/ 12/ www.uberflip.com