Content Marketing and Inbound Marketing are two terms you might be familiar with if you are familiar with Pakistan’s marketing industry. But, how do they relate to each other? Many people are confused about content marketing vs. inbound marketing. Is there a difference? What’s the difference between the two? Let’s take a look. 

What is Content Marketing 

Content marketing is a term first introduced around 2001. Content marketing is the process of brands marketing to consumers by devising content. Unlike traditional forms of advertising, such as commercials, print advertisements, and billboards, content marketing leverages books, magazines, and blogs to reach customers.

Content can take many forms, such as a web page optimized for search engines, a blog post targeted to a particular audience, an infographic with a visual impact that can be easily shared, or a video. However, most people prefer short videos too long whitepapers with only text.

As a general rule, your brand’s stories focus on your content marketing strategy, which can be entertaining and even engaging. Besides, nobody likes reading bland, boring content, right? When searching for industrial buyers, it’s important to make sure your search terms are accurate.

What is Inbound Marketing 

Unlike distributing information about your business to the general population, inbound marketing aims to gain qualified buyers and prospects. In order to implement the methodology, you need to know who you are selling to, exactly who you are trying to reach, and what marketing strategy you will use to reach those specific buyers.

Consumers today want to find solutions to challenges they face on their own. Inbound marketing caters to that desire. In addition, customers today distrust cold calling, spam email, and other types of marketing tactics that aren’t relevant, helpful, or personal. An inbound marketing strategy recognizes this consumer complaint and seeks to address it.

A successfully executed inbound marketing campaign will result in a consumer looking for answers to their questions, visiting a website that provides them with answers, and then self-selecting the product or service that will ultimately solve their problem.

Inbound Marketing Versus Content Marketing – What’s the Difference?

Inbound marketing and content marketing have many similarities, but they do have some differences. The main objective of content marketing is to create and distribute content through a variety of channels.

Broad Target Audience vs. Specific Buyer Persona

Unlike content marketing, which aims to reach a broad audience, inbound marketing reaches specific buyer personas.

Creating and Distributing Content vs. Building a Website

The content marketing process simply entails methods of creating and disseminating content through various channels. On the other hand, inbound marketing revolves around creating content for a website to motivate readers to take action, such as requesting information, buying a product, or subscribing to an email list. 

Content Marketing Does Not Include all Strategies Used in Inbound Marketing

Other strategies under inbound marketing include organic search engine optimization; website development, maintenance, and optimization; paid advertising; and monitoring of online reputation, which is not included in content marketing.