Many higher education professionals--marketers and non-marketers alike--view marketing activities as an ongoing expense rather than a mid- to long-term investment. However, not all marketing activities are created equal, and some are more accurately described as assets rather than expenses.

For higher education, paid search, print brochures, direct mail and other traditional (and usually costly) advertising activities are short-lived marketing events that result in potential applicants in the short run and hopefully enrolled students after some period of time. These marketing tactics are not bad, but after an ad runs--whether or not it results in higher application or enrollment rates--it is over. It does not continue to bring you value afterwards. It is an expense.

Content marketing is different. After a content piece has been created, it continues to provide value to the organization for a long time afterwards. The simplest explanation of a content marketing strategy goes something like this: Your organization produces valuable content for your target market (potential students), which they read when they are looking for useful information related to your organization. By doing this, you increase the likelihood that when your target students get ready to apply to college, they will choose to apply to your school because they already know you, like you and trust you. Trust is an asset that is hard to buy with any advertising budget and can return benefits to your organization for years to come.

Building trust takes time, and writing quality content to help build that trust is not cheap or easy. But the point is that after you make the investment to create content, that content is an asset that can appreciate over time. Fresh quality content targeted to your audience does amazing things for your SEO in addition to helping you build trust. And once you’ve made the initial investment to create a really good, really valuable piece of content, you can find creative ways to derive additional value from it with little extra effort.

For example, a piece entitled Students' Guide to Applying to College can be re-purposed into several high school presentations, ten different blog posts, some visual graphics, a webinar or two, and even some very brief, distilled tips communicated via your social media accounts. Meanwhile, the Guide itself also continues to deliver value to high school students looking for helpful information about applying to college for months or years to come.

By its virtue of lasting longer and providing value for your organization long after its creation, content is an asset, not an expense. Do you disagree? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.