I've done every job on a content team. 
I've even been the whole team.

I've played both sides of this: I've worked at companies that considered "content" to be nothing but marketing for a product. At others, "content" itself was the product - something to sell, to market (i.e. paid keynotes and workshops for clients).

So, my conclusion?

Great content helps someone solve a real problem in their life - without pummeling them to buy buy buy. Treat content not as a ploy, but as a product in its own right: something genuinely useful, worth someone's attention. Here's why:

You already know that when people realize something is an ad, they feel let down. A little duped, a little dismissed.

But when content genuinely helps them, something different happens. They're not just buying a product. On at least a subconscious level, they're thinking: This brand actually gets my situation. They earned the real estate in my brain.

That trust is worth more than any shiny feature advantage. Features come and go. It's a seesaw: Your competitor builds something better, then you do, then they do. It never ends.

But if your content has made you the most reliable source of information in your space, that's not something a competitor can copy overnight. You stop being just another option and start being the obvious answer.

That's how you build a brand that outlasts the next algorithm update. And the next. And the next.