Content Marketing Vs Digital Marketing: Guide to Marketing

As an individual, you might get easily confused between content marketing vs digital marketing, as both of them are interconnected, and often used interchangeably.

However, they differ in approach and practice.

Yes, you can use both content and digital marketing to expand your business and reach the target audience to increase your leads and sales. But to use them to your advantage, you must understand how each work in different ways.

In this guide on content marketing vs digital marketing, we will discuss the factors differentiating them along with their types.

Content Marketing vs Digital Marketing: How do They Differ?

Before going into the differences, understand that all digital marketing strategies do not come under content marketing. However, all content marketing strategies visibly come under digital marketing. 

The key differences between content and digital marketing are:

Parameters	Content Marketing	Digital Marketing
Goal	One of the primary motives of content marketing is to provide information to the target audience through unique content.	On the other hand, digital marketing’s main purpose is to convert leads into sales by using various tactics. It includes tactics such as  Pay Per Click (PPC) and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
Time Frame	Content marketing is a long-term process. However, if your content is well-optimised, it will give you returns in the long run once it reaches the target audience.	Digital marketing is a short-term process. It gives spontaneous returns without any long-term return or growth.
Expandability	The expandability of this marketing depends on various. These factors include producing well-defined content and publishing it on your website. Furthermore, it also includes optimising the content and sharing it on different platforms.	Digital marketing’s expandability depends on elements such as the budget allocated for it, how can you diversify it and whether there is any scope for expansion.
Tactics	Some content marketing tactics are articles, blogs, guides, videos, infographics and images.	Email marketing, SEO, PPC and social media marketing are some of the techniques of digital marketing.
Expertise	For content creation, you will require a professional skillset to outrank your competitors. You can contact a content writing company as they have expertise in content creation according to the client’s requirements.	Digital marketing requires professionals who have experience in advertising. They should also know programming, analysis and data trends.

Now that you have understood how content marketing vs digital marketing differ, you should also know their various types. 

Types of Content Marketing

Here are some types of content marketing that will help you reach your target audience:

1. Articles or Blogs

Publishing regular articles and blogs on your website is one of the most popular content marketing techniques. If they are well-optimised, such articles and blogs can rank higher on the search result page, which will generate new leads.

Advantages

• It helps you turn your traffic into potential leads and requires less financial investment.
• You can position your brand better than your competitors and help you earn more profits.

Disadvantages

• You need to update your content regularly to ensure it is useful to the target audience. It requires a lot of time and human effort to update the content.
• It requires a lot of time to research before writing an article or a blog. However, when done properly, it will help you get positive results in the long run.

2. Infographics

Infographics are another content marketing strategy that makes your content more engaging. You can use it to show statistics and graphs or to outline a procedure.

Advantages

• Infographics are easy to understand and help boost your brand’s engagement. 
• It helps in conveying information at a glance and improves your content’s ranking in the search results.

Disadvantages

• Designing an infographic can be time-consuming and expensive. 
• If the infographics are not designed properly, they become difficult to interpret and confusing. 

3. Videos and Images

Videos and images are used to quickly convey information to the target audience in a large number. It keeps the viewers engaged in the content, as shown in a study by Hubspot that 54% of people prefer watching videos and images of the brands they support.

Moreover, videos and images make your content more understandable by breaking down the complex procedure in a simplified way.

Advantages

• Using content in the form of videos and images improves your company’s engagement and gives you a competitive advantage.
• Videos and images increase your conversion rate and can positively influence your search engine rankings.

Disadvantages

• It is a time-consuming task to create a video or an image and can be expensive. 
• Furthermore, you need to update the images and videos regularly to stay relevant and outrank your competition.

4. Case Study

Case study is one of the great content marketing strategies through which you can provide real-life examples to your audience. It will help you build trust by demonstrating tangible results.

Advantages

• Case studies provide in-depth details about the topics which are difficult to find via other research methods. 
• It gives a real picture of the case as it is based on reality.

Disadvantages

• Case studies lack scientific precision and cannot be generalised for a wider target audience.
• Preparing case studies can be time-consuming and expensive.

5. How-to Content and Guides

To increase your content engagement, you can write guides and how-to content. It will help you increase your brand’s presence and get more conversions. 

Advantages

• It helps you in creating instructional content for your audience and guides them to build a trustworthy relationship.
• You can drive more conversions for your business by creating guides and how-to content

Disadvantages

• You need to do proper research to write guides and how-to content. It is a time-consuming process.
• These types of content are limited to a particular aspect and cannot be generalised for different niches.

Read our blog on using content marketing strategies for more amazing tips.

Types of Digital Marketing

Now, let us take a look at the different types of digital marketing strategies:

1. Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising

PPC advertising is paid advertising which shows up on the top of search results, labelled as ‘Sponsored ads’. 

It is one of the popular ways that companies use to attract traffic to their website. This helps them to draw leads into customers.

Advantages

• It helps in ranking your content quickly and attaining a position on the first page of the SERP.
• PPC advertising is time-efficient and requires less human effort. 

Disadvantages

• In some cases, PPC can be expensive to target a certain audience with popular keywords.
• Most people prefer organic search results to advertisements appearing in the SERP.

2. Social Media Marketing

It is another strategy of digital marketing. Now you might have a question that how content marketing vs social media marketing differs. 

Social media marketing focuses on bringing organic traffic to the website through various social media platforms. On the other hand, content marketing brings organic traffic from search result pages like Google.

Advantages

• It has one of the highest conversion rates as people will engage more with the content you upload on various social media platforms.
• Social media marketing is one of the best marketing strategies as people will share, comment and like your content. 

Disadvantages

• The algorithms of social media change continuously, making it a challenging task. 
• You require strategic planning to post content on your social media profiles. It requires a lot of time to plan out the process efficiently.

3. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

It is a digital marketing technique which improves the website’s online presence. SEO involves on-page and off-page strategies such as writing meta titles, keyword research, meta description, social media and link building. 

It expands the brand’s online presence and generates more leads, as Bright Edge’s research shows that 68% of online experiences start with a search engine. 

Advantages

• It enhances your brand’s reach by improving its visibility in the search results.
• SEO is a cost-effective strategy when compared to other digital marketing strategies. 

Disadvantages

• SEO depends on technology and Google updates, which makes it challenging. You need to optimise your content accordingly to attain a position on the first page of the SERP.
• It takes a lot of time for the SEO to work, making it a time-consuming process.

4. Influencer and Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate and influencer marketing helps you reach a wider audience. The existing audience of the influencers will engage your content and increase the traffic on your website. The influencers will create content aligning with your products or services and place a link to your website.

Advantages

• You can influence the existing audience of the influencers and increase your brand’s reach. 
• Working with influencers will help you earn loyal customers and audiences for your brand. 

Disadvantages

• You need to look for the right influencer on the basis of your target audience and look for authentic ways to work with them. 
• Hiring an influencer can be costly, and you need to be careful about paying them for promoting your products or services.

Content Marketing and Digital Marketing Working Together

If you want to choose from content marketing vs digital marketing, you must know that both of them can work together to enhance your online presence.

Content marketing is a part of digital marketing, and integrating their strategies is beneficial for your website. You can collaborate both to increase your reach and generate more sales in the short and long term.

For instance, if you want to develop a digital marketing strategy like PPC or SEO, you can write an article or a blog. It should answer all the questions of your audience. Therefore, it will provide value to the audience in your segment and build trust between both of you.

It will drive more organic traffic to your website, which will eventually lead to conversion. You can even run a paid ad campaign on various social media platforms to popularise the content. In addition, it will improve your brand awareness and build authority with more individuals.

Tools Used for Content Marketing

Content creation is a manual task. However, organic marketing companies can use several online tools to deliver quality content to their clients. These tools make content creation easier which helps in overall digital marketing. Some of these tools are as follows:

1. Grammarly

It helps content writers check those grammatical errors which get ignored. This tool helps them deliver quality content to their customers, as it even scans whether the content is plagiarised or not.

2. Canva

Canva helps content writers deliver visually appealing graphics, images and videos to their customers in a short time. It assists them in designing content according to their client’s requirements and offers multiple templates for ease.

3. Answer the Public

It helps content writers to find more questions related to their topics. Content writers use it to find out the queries the target audience is asking related to their topics. This tool is beneficial for getting new ideas and relatable subheadings for the content. 

Overall, content marketing vs digital marketing are two separate elements but you will require both of them to make your online presence more effective. It will help you in establishing your brand’s reputation and authority online and introduce it to the global level. If you want to outrank your competitors through content marketing, you can navigate our service section and reach us.

Tools Used For Digital Marketing

Following are some of the tools that digital marketers use to outrank their client’s competition:

1. Ahrefs

This tool’s site explorer allows you to inspect any website’s or URL’s organic keywords which are top-ranked. Apart from this, it also allows you to estimate how much traffic your competitors are getting on any keyword or search term. You can use Ahrefs to upgrade your existing and create more unique content.

2. HubSpot

It is a CRM platform that manages marketing, customer service, sales, content management and operation software of businesses. You can use the platform to resolve any business issues and boost your marketing activities.

3. SEMrush

Semrush allows you to track the most searched and prioritised keywords and create content on such keywords. It also assists you in exploring new keywords to outrank your competition. On this platform, you can check the keyword difficulty and brainstorm new content ideas.

Overall, content marketing vs digital marketing are two separate elements but you will require both of them to make your online presence more effective. It will help you in establishing your brand’s reputation and authority online and introduce it to the global level. If you want to outrank your competitors through content marketing, you can navigate our content service section and reach us.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does digital marketing create more effect than content marketing?

Content marketing is one of the most vital techniques of digital marketing. However, it does not affect sales directly but it creates brand awareness through regular content creation. Therefore, it results in more conversions and gives you a better return on investment.

2. Which one to choose between traditional and digital marketing?

Choosing between traditional and digital marketing depends on the brand and its target audience. However, if a brand wants to keep marketing cost-effective and reach a particular target audience, it must opt for digital marketing as it is more effective. On the other hand, traditional marketing works if they want to reach a local or older audience group.

3. How content writing improves your brand value and business?

Content writing is a powerful tool that helps you to attract the target audience by creating personalised content for the audience. It also helps you to outrank your competitors and generate new leads. Furthermore, you can hire professional content-writing agencies to upgrade your content and maintain a high rank on SERP like Google.

4. What is SEO content marketing?

It refers to following the rules of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) by writing outstanding content that helps in improving its rank on the SERP, especially Google. In addition, the content must be of top-notch quality to outrank the competitors.