These days, consumers are no longer willing to engage with in-your-face marketing tactics and quality content is king. Simply put, there are too many marketing messages, consumers have grown tired of them and simply tune them out.

As a business you still need to get your message out, acquire and retain new customers. If your customers are no longer listening to straight-out sales pitch marketing messages what DOES get their attention?

Well, it’s time to think about the art of subtlety.

Let’s say you’re about to launch a product or service. Prior to launch, everyone is busy fine-tuning the product and waiting for the right time to announce it. Perhaps you’re waiting for the next large industry conference. Before the conference comes around what many companies typically do is… nothing. They wait.

Then, when the conference comes around… boom… they begin to virtually scream at their audience “Hey, look at this service we just launched! You need this!!!!!” The problem is that just about EVERY other company is doing the same thing – that’s a lot of noise to cut though in order to get the attention you need.

What if you could start the process of marketing prior to launch? If the audience is primed with information, they get more familiar about who you are and tend to be that much more receptive when your product actually does launch.

Now, I realize that you do not necessarily want to release the big news, secret sauce prior to the show.

I’m here to tell you that you can have the best of both worlds.

Let’s use a hypothetical example of a mobile product designed to improve the customer experience. Through the strategic use of content marketing, six-eight months out from the show this business starts priming their customers for launch -- without them even knowing it.

Company executives craft and place thought-provoking blog posts, as well as industry articles, centered around the importance of mobile devices for consumers. Topics could also focus on customer experience issues, or the pain points their yet-to-be-launched product solves. The company’s social media strategy is also integrated into the plan, introducing content that corroborates and reinforces the company’s current content and messaging.

In essence, in a subtle manner, this strategy educates the audience about the importance of key points related to the product or service in advance of launch. You push content your audience wants to read, increase the profile of your company and position executives as industry thought leaders.

Now, when that industry conference rolls around, your press release hits the trade publications and you are ready to start selling, your audience (and the audience you didn’t know you had) will be more familiar with who you are. They are more receptive to your product. You’ve just spent six months educating them why everything your product solves is exactly what they need.

In the marketing world, businesses have a steep slope to climb. It’s a long way to the top. But, once you get there, it’s much easier coming down the other side.

Start your marketing planning in advance with the type of content your audience desires. Ensure it is also aligned with your business messaging and/or supports an upcoming product -- and you should find more success at the end of the day.

Sometimes, the most successful marketing isn’t selling anything at all.