Marketing. It’s all the same, isn’t it?
Well, actually, no it’s not. There are lots of different types of marketing that are frequently confused with one another. A perfect example of this is content marketing and social media marketing.
Not only are they different and distinct, but if you don’t understand content marketing, then your social media marketing is likely to fail.Similarly, content marketing is impossible without content such as blogs, videos, photos etc. There’s a reason that they say content is king. In short, social media without content is like a television channel without programmes. The better your content is, the more it will establish your brand’s expertise and authority, building trust, and growing your audience.
Content marketing is a long game. Rather than instantly converting new customers, it helps communicate your brand values so that consumers begin to associate your business with the topics featured in your content. Over time, this will develop trust and brand loyalty – a recipe for long-term success. In simple terms, instead of making a single sale, you’ll be gaining a customer for life – as long as you keep up the great content and maintain engagement. This takes time and doesn’t just happen through social media. You can also share your content through other distribution channels such as your website and SEO, email marketing, blogs, newsletters, videos, and more.
Social media is just one of the channels at your disposal, but it’s a very important one and its increasingly taking centre-stage for businesses. Why? Just think about the amount of time people spend on social media on any given day whether they are at home, work, or on the move. They are all potential customers and there are more people using social worldwide than ever before (and the number keeps growing).
Your social media manager (whether they are freelance or you’re working with a specialist agency) will be responsible for distributing your content in the most optimized way across your social media platforms. They’ll also track and monitor its performance and use the results to inform your strategy. As patterns emerge, they can make recommendations on the type of content that works best for you and your business, so you can produce more of that. Of course, if you’re working with an agency, part of your brief for them might be to create content for you. This is a good reason to work with an agency with a well-rounded team of specialists including graphic designers, creative copywriters, SEO experts, and more.
It all depends on your business needs. Understanding the difference between content marketing and social media marketing is also vital. Many businesses want to start marketing on social media just because they think they need an online presence, but without having any content. When that happens, a social media agency or manager would have to double up as content creator, changing the nature of their role or service. While a good agency (like us for example) will always find a way to help, it’s useful for businesses to understand why they need content from the outset.
Earlier, we used the analogy of TV programmes and TV channel to describe the difference between content and social media platforms and while this is a very simple example, it’s a good way of looking at it. Content and channel are different, but they also go hand in hand. You need both to deliver results. It’s also important to understand that someone needs to create the content to be distributed via social media. Similarly, you need a strategy for how you want to use it rather than simply posting it. These are all key considerations when adding a social media management, content creator, or both to your business, or when hiring a social media agency. One of the benefits of the latter is that they can help with both content creation and strategy if these are areas you need extra support.
Do you need help with your content marketing and social media management? Our talented team of digital marketing experts are ready and waiting to talk about your business and how we can help.