/ Content Marketing and Social Media Marketing What's the Difference?
Content marketing and social media marketing are common terms in this digital marketing era. However, it can be confusing to differentiate between content marketing and social media marketing.
Some people even think they are the same thing. However, the names actually indicate the difference. Social media is not just about creating content and content can be posted on other platforms as well, not just on social media.
Content marketing is the activity of creating and sharing valuable content to target audiences. The ultimate goal of content marketing is to improve brand awareness and reputation by demonstrating that the brand is an authoritative leader in the field. Therefore, the content must be either educational or entertaining and engaging enough to be shared with friends and family.
There are several types of content that can be created based on your target audience, such as:
Blog post (article) on the website,
Infographic on website and social media
Photo on YouTube, website and social media,
Illustration and design on YouTube, website and social media,
Video on YouTube, website and social media,
Printed book and e-book.
A good content marketing strategy can attract the audience and retain customers by sharing knowledge, building familiarity, credibility and trust between the audience, customers and the brand. By doing so, the audience and customers will look forward to more content. In this way, the company can keep them informed about many brand updates and generate sales.
Through creative content, the brand can stimulate discussion, offer solutions to challenges and problems, and be an expert who provides a complete guide on how to do some things. That's why it's important to create and publish fun, useful and inspiring content. Good design, copywriting and video editing are essential.
Social media marketing builds awareness, reputation and trust through interaction. It is a combination of direct and indirect marketing. You can post content, share content and interact with each other. Social media allows existing and potential customers to discuss their experiences with the brand. They can give compliments, complaints, thoughts, opinions and honest reviews. This is because social media is a place where people can freely share their thoughts, whether positive or negative.
That's why social media is more than just a platform to post interesting content, but also to develop a good, intimate and long-term relationship with customers and increase engagement. This can be done by answering questions, addressing controversies, and providing updated and complete information.
Although content marketing and social media marketing aim to increase awareness, trust and reputation, there are some differences between these two. The main difference is that content is an appealing thing that the brand presents to both potential and existing customers, while social media is a platform where the brand can interact with them.
On social media, the company can find potential customers and post appealing content. Besides, the company can use social media and marketing tool to collect data, analyze data and develop a strong marketing strategy.
In short, content marketing is a tactic that companies use to add the brand values to potential and existing customers by creating and publishing valuable content. On the other hand, social media marketing is a platform that can be used to publish these contents. Besides social media, the content can also be published on other platforms such as YouTube and website.