So, what specifically is blogging? For that matter, what’s content marketing? And why do you have to focus more on the latter? this article can clear up the distinction and set you on the correct track going forward.
60 % of customers feel positive about a brand when reading nice content on a blog. however, reading blogs and feeling positive doesn’t convert leads and grow an audience. according to promoting guru Neil Patel, conversion rates are nearly six times higher for content promoting adopters than non-adopters.
Here’s the distinction between content marketing and blogging, and why you would like to be content marketing if you would like to start out seeing results.
What’s blogging?
Blogging is perhaps a term you’re familiar with – it comes from a truncation of “weblog” and refers to a publication is written informational content on a website. There are personal blogs, corporate blogs, political blogs, and everything else you’ll imagine.
If you’re new to blogging, or an employee looking to kick-on your efforts, there are excellent guides here and here.
What’s content marketing?
For businesses, blogging alone is not enough. Don’t get me wrong – blogging is fantastic. we tend to do it all the time and have learned several lessons. except for it to be effective, blogging ought to be a part of a wider marketing method that drives results. this is often content marketing.
According to the content marketing institute:
“Content marketing may be a strategic marketing approach centered on making and distributing valuable clearly defined audience.”
This clearly defined audience is sometimes observed as a client persona. A client persona may be a well-researched, semi-fictionalized illustration of your business’s ideal audience. Like an arrow to a target, content is ready-made to client personas with relevant and valuable content. By building trust and delivering value to these client personas, customers are attracted, converted, closed and delighted.
And that’s the core distinction between blogging and content promoting. Content promoting drives meaningful results. It gets more than three times as several leads as outbound promoting and prices 63 % less.
Content marketing can even are available in many alternative forms except blogging. For example:
Podcasts
Video content
Animation and infographics
White papers
Social media
Design and illustration
And this content is optimized for every stage of the buyer’s journey.
Where do you have to go from here?
The distinction between blogging and content marketing ought to be clear currently. we tend to love each other. you must be doing each. however, begin with forming a content marketing strategy and so align your blog to it.
A blog that isn’t a part of a content marketing strategy will not drive organic traffic and consequently, are a waste of your time. If you’re not providing price, it isn’t content marketing. If your blog isn’t relevant, it isn’t content marketing.
Blogging may be a tool. Content marketing is that the operating system works inside.
If you’re presently blogging, it’s conjointly necessary to develop different content marketing techniques, like social media, email marketing and producing multimedia content. These will turn on the success of your journal to drive stronger overall results from your content marketing.
At Articulate, we’re immense advocates of content marketing. It’s the current (and the future) of marketing. It brings the price to your audience in order that you’ll build trust, generate leads, and ultimately sell products and services. and everyone in additional human and pleasing expertise.
To find out additional concerning effective content marketing, transfer our inbound marketing guide. It’s a superb place to begin using content marketing to grow your business.
