If you are running a business online, then you might have already heard about content marketing and digital marketing. Though content marketing and digital marketing terms are used interchangeably many times, they are not the same. They both have the same aim of helping businesses grow and succeed but they both follow different paths. 

As per semrush.com, content marketing helps in achieving specific goals and increases your online visibility using organic methods, while digital marketing is a broad term that encompasses marketing on all digital touchpoints that the customer might engage with during his/her journey.

What is content marketing?

Content marketing refers to using different forms of content creation to attract and educate audiences. Content marketing focuses on creating informative content for building trust and establishing yourself as an expert or authority in your niche. Content marketing is a long-term business strategy that delivers excellent results in the course of time and helps your business grow and succeed.

What are the Different formats for content marketing?

Blogs, videos, infographics, and newsletters are some of the popular forms of content marketing. 

Blogs: Blogs are one of the most popular forms of content marketing. Though blogs can be shorter or longer, however longer and in-depth blogs that provide quality information to the audience are the most popular form of content marketing. They help in increasing engagements.

Newsletters and emailers: Next to blogs, newsletters and emailers are another trendy way to attract new audiences and keep existing ones engaged. By sharing informative and engaging content with newsletters and emailers, you can build a personalized connection with your audience.

eBooks: eBooks are another well-known form of content marketing. By creating informative eBooks in your niche, you can share your expertise with your audience. Of course, creating eBooks requires lots of hard work and dedication, but it gives awesome results and helps in increasing lead generation and growing your business. 

Content-based posts on LinkedIn and other social media platforms: The power of social media platforms is growing day by day. As per stats, 2.963 billion people visit Facebook every day. By sharing content-based posts on LinkedIn and other social media platforms, you can reach out to a new and relevant audience. With regular engagement, you can make meaningful connections and can build an engaging community around your brand. 

Case studies: Case studies are the next common form of content creation that shows the trustworthiness of your brand with your potential customers. Nowadays, people want to see the results and past performances of your brand or product, before buying them. A detailed case study from past customers’ experiences can be a great way to show how your product or service has helped resolve the pain point of your customer. 

Unique features of content marketing  

Content marketing is indirect in nature. It primarily focuses on sharing valuable information and building an audience base. Content marketing is quite affordable and the best option for small businesses to get started with digital marketing. 

It is important to be patient while implementing the content marketing strategy for business promotion, it takes time and consistent efforts to get results with content marketing.

What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing is a wide term, it refers to using various available digital options on the internet to promote your business and help them grow. Digital marketing focuses on more direct ways to promote a business or services and believes primarily in generating new leads and increasing sales, rather than building community or setting yourself as the authority in a niche. 

What are some popular forms of digital marketing?

Here are some popular forms of digital marketing.

• Influencer Marketing : The idea is to tap into content creators who enjoy a good amount of following, relevant to your brand to promote your product or service. They need not be traditional celebrities but content creators who are valued for the content they create by their audience. The content can be in the form of video, podcasts, images or text published online. 
• Paid Marketing: as the name suggests, it involves running ads either on search engine, banner advertising or ads on social media to attract new audience. The user pays based on clicks or impressions. 
• Email marketing: promotional emails are another well-known option for digital marketing.  But here it is important to have a database of users to send the email’s to. Normally purchased databases hardly deliver any results.
•  Video marketing and social media marketing are some of the other popular options for digital marketing. 

What are the unique features of digital marketing?

Digital marketing is versatile in nature and involves using various formats for promoting business. It focuses on obtaining fast results and increasing the business’s profitability. 

As a drawback, the cost of acquisition of a customer could be high, which is not necessarily a bad thing, as it largely depends on your overall strategy and business vision. But with privacy concerns, third party cookies restrictions and general ad fatigue, it might not appeal to your audience, if done in the traditional sense.

It is more expensive than content marketing. If you are a start-up or MSME, then you might not have the budget and resources to include full-blown digital marketing for your business. 

What is the difference between content marketing and digital marketing?

Content marketing and digital marketing both work towards achieving the same goal and that is growing your business. However, they both have different approaches. Content marketing only focuses on creating informative content, raising brand awareness, and building a trustworthy audience around your brand. However, digital marketing involves using various methodologies to promote business and increase lead generation, and this includes content marketing.

You can select any option as per your budget and other business requirements. Both ways provide good results and help your business grow and succeed. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can say, all different forms of content marketing are digital marketing, but not all digital marketing is content marketing. Digital marketing has a wider scope and approach than content marketing. However, content marketing is a more affordable and a subtle way to promote your business. 

If you are looking for result-oriented content marketing services for your business, check out our home page to know more!