It used to be that choosing a college major in any "content-related" discipline was the equivalent of an employment death sentence. English, philosophy, history, you name it -- merely mentioning the possibility of focusing on any of these areas would make even the most well-intentioned parent of the '80s and '90s cringe, sigh, and cross their fingers in the hopes that their children would, above all else, not move back home at the end of it all. Fast-forward to today. As I write this, a quick search for "content marketing jobs" yields 160 pages (not positions, but pages) of results …

Content marketing is clearly catching on. Recent research shows that brands, agencies and publishers alike are fans, and each is deriving real value that's measurable. Also known as native advertising, sponsored content and featured content, the trend toward content marketing is clear - and this form of audience engagement is working. New research by Hexagram and Spada shows a large majority (62%) of publishers offer content marketing opportunities, including sponsored blog posts, video, articles and interactive features.

On the surface, the term "big content" sounds like yet another buzzword destined for the marketing dustbin. In reality, big content is the definition of what content marketing has become: unruly, amorphous, exponential and everywhere.

What do stainless steel kitchens have in common with content marketing? They're both solid classics that have recently become "must-haves." I began my career in content marketing with the creation of Studio One nearly 15 years ago, well before the category had its own moniker. Since then it's exploded, and even I've had trouble keeping track of the new technologies, business models, companies and tools that have sprouted up. This is a complicated and highly populated landscape.

Consumer brands are always hunting the white whale of valuation: paid media + earned media = success. They buy that shiny marketing campaign and hope the creative instincts behind it were on point and it goes viral. Voil, all of a sudden a brand has earned two or three times the media value that it has bought, the fans helped it along and are now more engaged, and everyone goes home happy. It's a result that used to be a happy coincidence. Now, clients are asking their publisher partners to help program that luck into measurable results. We need to …

Users love content. As a result, brands love content marketing. However, there is one problem: How do brands find the scale and ability to reach millions of people with the content that they produce? "Content plus reach" is the answer to the perennial problem of how to amplify content marketing programs that work. Brands must move beyond their websites' domains to reach the full Web, both mobile and display.