Content is an integral part of social media marketing (SMM), but it turns out that most businesses are still unfamiliar with the term content marketing. Indeed, content marketing is very engaging social media and social media marketers use content to get their message across.
Barring this similarity the two of them are distinct entities that focus on different needs and goals. Let’s take a look at the main ways in which they differ:
Marketing Focus
The main focus of social media marketing is concentrated in social media platforms. When marketers operate social media campaigns, they operate within Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. Content is placed on this network.
Instead, the focus of content marketing is to publish content to a business website and then publish it via various social media platforms. Social media is used extensively to share published content links. The content can be blog posts, infographics, videos etc.
Content Type
Social media content is created for a specific social platform which is meant to publish the same thing. Twitter uses short tweets with 140 characters, Facebook uses media like videos and pictures along with short text, Instagram uses small pictures and videos etc. Brands model their behavior based on social platform users.
In the context of web site content marketing allows for an older form of content. Brands can publish blog posts, release case studies, videos, infographics and ebooks. Brands model their behavior based on media publishers.
Destination
Although the two are different forms of brand / service marketing they both differ in their objectives. Social media is primarily used for brand building, awareness, consumer interaction, feedback, promotion and lead generation. Social media is an open house where consumers can initiate discussions about brands and services. Therefore, QMS is very important to build customer loyalty.
Content marketing on the other hand focuses on demand generation. Quality content brings prospects to the website. Content marketing focuses on developing those relationships to convert prospects to purchase. Good content marketing focuses on the entire brand site. Companies with poor content strategies will struggle to force positive buying decisions. Online brands and their competitive purchasing decisions are heavily influenced by content.
Online Marketing Scenarios
Social media marketing is a relatively old term and is practiced by most companies. Content marketing on the other hand is a new practice for many. The importance of content marketing rose after the smart device boom. Brands without a website (but only with all social media accounts) will find it difficult to gain consumer trust. The web domain generates trust in consumers and strategically shaped content strengthens the trust in their minds.
Social media marketing is the first step of a process that involves brand building as it accesses the user directly. As brands become more familiar the natural progression will move towards content marketing. Brands can deeply engage their customers through content marketing efforts, and the results are stronger because they drive consumers to their websites because brands have a greater chance of acquiring leads and moving them down the conversion funnel.