Spokal

I like to think of content as part of a conversation that's always ongoing - for example, at a party! At this content party, some people really make the effort, are inviting and engaging and join in the conversations and network with other people. They're super popular and everyone wants to be their friend! (i.e. they produce good content that people want to be around!) Then you have the party poopers that show up. They come in all shapes and sizes, from the guy who steals his friends jokes, regurgitates old stories, or just sits in a corner and whispers to himself... They're not exactly the kinds of people you're going to make the effort to spend time with. (i.e. they produce poor content)

And it's not just about what they're saying, but how they're saying it. It's about body language, about being well-read, about how much/how little you laugh, how well-read you are, about eye contact, if you have anything interesting to say, how your experiences shape your opinions, the language that they're using... I could go on and on and on!

How well a person is received at a party is a complex social situation - one that you either learn how to master, or don't. You know, like content marketing!

@kr_iyer I completely get you Krithika! (I'm not even sure how it made sense, but it did!) Content that's not too showy, and is just focused on being entertaining/informative/useful is so much easier to approach! (just like party-goes who do the same are easier to approach!) 

@JuliaEMcCoy Content that's written in the direct voice is the kind of thing I like to read in my spare time - and we really should be creating content that people will enjoy reading in their spare time! Even if it's educational, making it less of a chore is always a good thing, and I think that's why companies that market with this in mind succeed! 

In Marketo's 2013 report they stated that 1 in 4 businesses thought that marketing automation was too complicated to implement effectively, and that budget was also a big factor too - and I think this is probably more true of SMBs without a dedicated marketing team and the same resources of bigger businesses. I think it that it partly comes down to education and research. Once a business understands that they need marketing automation to effectively compete, they then move on to research. Once they start to do some research, they then realize that marketing automation isn't always so complicated or costly. Once they realize this, they can then look into the many marketing automation technologies out there until they find one that will suit their business needs.