Though content and content marketing sound similar and are even used interchangeably by many, they are not exactly the same thing, though they do somewhat overlap. To put it more succinctly, the difference between content and content marketing lies in its purpose. The question that needs to be answered is: What is the motivation for your content? If you are trying to attract an audience, optimize, build and cumulate a following, you need to aim for content marketing. By contrast, content is simply providing information. This can include campaign content, customer service content, product content, e-books, a webinar, advertising and sales content.<\/p>\n
According to Michael Brenner of Content Marketing Institute, \u201cContent is typically produced because someone in an organization asked for it while \u2018content\u2019 paired with \u2018marketing\u2019 is what the audience wants.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Joe Pulizzi, Content Marketing Institute founder defined content as \u201ccompelling information that informs, engages, or amuses.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n In it\u2019s most basic form, content is simply information. Of course, when you use content in combination with marketing, that is when the magic happens as hinted at by Brenner.<\/p>\n According to a Content Marketing Institute article written by Michael Brenner, \u201cWith content marketing you are attracting an audience to a brand-owned destination verses interrupting or buying an audience on someone else\u2019s platform.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Content marketing hubs that look like publisher sites, but are owned by brands are most valuable to a brand. Two good examples of this are the Red Bulletin Magazine, owned by Red Bull and Business Trends and Insights by American Express.<\/p>\n If you dig a little deeper, what sets these activities apart isn\u2019t just the platform or the intent\u2014it\u2019s also the rhythm of engagement. Content marketing works best when it\u2019s not just a one-off effort, but rather a sustained conversation or resource that people gradually come to rely on. You can spot this approach whenever you keep returning to a brand\u2019s blog or video series not because you have to, but because you want to see what pops up next.<\/p>\n This approach really flips the usual sales pitch on its head. Instead of shoving brand messages under your nose, the best content marketing actually offers up value with zero strings attached. And yeah, there\u2019s a kind of subtle trust that builds up in that space\u2014consumers know they can come back for more, whether they\u2019re in buying mode or just curious.<\/p>\n Basic content, not tied to marketing, such as ads or campaigns, is only visible or applicable for a short period. It is created for one purpose, usually commissioned by the boss of a company. When content marketing is employed, you stop creating content and begin creating a brand. Although content marketing and content or regularly confused and often overlap, \u201ccontent marketing is a strategic solution to a strategic problem<\/em>.\u201d Its goal is to covert, engage and reach<\/strong> new customers.<\/p>\n An example of this is when you read a newsletter or blog post, covering financial marketing trends produced by a fund investment company. The post has little to nothing to do with the funds themselves, but the information is valuable, interesting, and educational. This is a great example of content marketing in the modern age. It can also be a destination hub<\/a> as mentioned above.<\/p>\n The content itself is informative and enjoyable to the reader, even if it doesn\u2019t have anything to do with the product sold. Readers or site visitors will so much enjoy the destination, newsletter or blog, that they become brand loyal. Again, remember content marketing<\/a> isn\u2019t about you, your brand, your products or your services, it\u2019s about your audience.<\/strong><\/em> When you become an authoritative resource on helpful subjects, your brand will earn your customers\u2019 trust and subsequent loyalty.<\/p>\n Above all else, your content itself must be valuable to your audience in order to serve the purpose its intended. Valuable content will attract your target audience, compel them to engage and encourage ongoing interaction by prompting readers to become a subscriber, customer or hopefully both. When your audience is well-established, your fresh content will work to gather customer insight, increase sales and even promote your customers to become brand advocates.<\/p>\n One good example of this in action the content platform Master This<\/a> created by Liberty Mutual insurance company. Of course, the end goal or purpose was to increase insurance sales, but the content on the site is focused on more than types of insurance products. It is informative and engaging. Master This <\/em>recently expanded to partner with Amazon\u2019s Alexa and HowStuffWorks for an even greater audience.<\/p>\n As we have explained above in depth, content marketing is much more than basic content. While there is a place for content on its own, in the form of ads, books, campaigns or inner company newsletters, the vast majority of your business content creation should be audience focused. In other words, you need to evolve from just creating brand focused content to embracing audience engaging content marketing.<\/p>\n Of course, to have fresh, relatable, educational content at the ready, you need to hire professional freelance writers<\/a> to get the job done. Allow our team of writers at Writer Access to partner with you in focused content marketing. Let us worry about creating new content for you, you just focus on creating a brand worthy of the following content marketing<\/a> will likely generate. Contact us at Writer Access to get started on your content marketing journey or to take your current strategy up a notch.<\/p>\n }}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Though content and content marketing sound similar and are even used interchangeably by many, they are not exactly the same thing, though they do somewhat overlap. To put it more succinctly, the difference between content and content marketing lies in its purpose. The question that needs to be answered is: What is the motivation for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":114050,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[117],"class_list":["post-114049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","tag-migrationwa"],"yoast_head":"\nMore on How Content Marketing Differs From Basic Content<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Content is Everywhere and Often Inward Focused But Content Marketing is Results Focused<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Often Content Marketing Includes Content Outside The Scope of a Brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Creating Audience Worth Content to Promote Brand Loyalty<\/h3>\n
How to Build an Engaged And Interested Audience<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Why You Need Content Professionals<\/strong><\/h2>\n