Suddenly, advertising is all agog for storytelling. Every product wants to play a leading role in the story of every consumer's life -- a role so important it must be snapped, shot, shared, pinned, tweeted, and stored forever. What we buy and how we show it off defines who we are.

It can be hard for B2B marketers to connect with target audiences inundated with messages about improving revenue, lowering costs and increasing efficiency. Companies the world over make the same pitch, with creative that can be depressingly similar Great content marketing efforts can be a real antidote to this same-as-everyone-else approach. But what makes content marketing great?

"Content is king" is a clich, but phrases become clichs because at the core is a certain truth. As a former business journalist, I appreciate the value assigned to content. Now that I'm a marketer creating branded content for clients, content continues to reign, and marketers are hungry for it. The biggest challenge is creating products that are compelling, shareable, digestible and targeted, but there are some basic guidelines that can help.

Modern CMOs cultivate a blend of digital media, including emails, blogs, tweets, posts, and other forms of social media. While using these tools has elevated marketers to an even more central role in many organizations, it has also challenged them to keep engaging with an increasingly demanding audience. Marketers have created a beast, hungry to devour new content at a blistering pace. Feeding the beast is where content marketing comes in.