By now, you know all about content marketing. You may have even heard of content shock, too. So which is it? Is content marketing a necessary part of digital marketing success? Or is there too much content already out there for anything new to be worthwhile?

For brands and businesses, the answer is a little bit of both. Content is, and always will be, the lifeblood of digital marketing. Whether it’s blog posts or videos, content plays an integral role in the building of a digital reputation. And make no mistake: brands need to be active in the digital space to achieve in 2016 and beyond.

But it’s also true that the digital realm is overrun with content. The problem is that the more content there is, the harder it is to find something valuable and relevant. It’s no wonder brands get confused about the best way to approach content marketing!

Everyone involved with marketing a brand, large or small, has at least dabbled in content marketing. Most marketers are using content to reach out to consumers, but not all of them are finding success. As technology has advanced, and the concept of content marketing has become mainstream, developing an effective content marketing strategy is now a must.

In the early days of content marketing, a little online exposure could go a long way. But things have changed over the last several years.

Over the last several years, content marketing has won the hearts of big brands, small businesses and everything between. But like most aspects of the digital world, investing in a tactic doesn't guarantee success. Success comes from ensuring you're doing the right kind of content marketing.

The good news is great content marketing strategies stick to the same general principles. If you follow a guide or take cues from an existing campaign with great results, you'll have success. For our latest digital marketing video, we perfected A Recipe for Content Marketing Success:

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Creating content is arguably one of the most time-consuming aspects of digital marketing. In the past, Internet marketers would make educated guesses about the type of content that we need to create for our businesses, but this type of strategy can lead to a hit-and-miss approach and it leads to business owners creating a lot of content that only gets read by a few people.

In order to add value, you need to speak directly to the challenges that your ideal customer faces. Then you need to create unique, engaging content on a limited marketing budget. A marketing mix can help you achieve this without breaking the bank.