Content Marketing vs. Blogging: What’s the Difference?

Content marketing has been around as long as blogs have existed, but it’s only recently that the two terms have been used synonymously by the public and in media coverage. This raises the question, what exactly is content marketing? What makes it different from blogging?

The truth is that content marketing and blogging do go hand-in-hand, but they are two distinct entities with their own merits and purposes. In order to better understand how the two differ, let’s first look at what each term actually means. Check out this 30-day blueprint to creating a content strategy that converts.

How to tell if you are a blogger

Before you can decide if content marketing or blogging is right for your business, you need to ask yourself a few questions first.

Do you have enough interesting content that it’s worth putting time and money into getting readers to come back each day? Do you consistently produce useful information that solves real problems for people in your niche?

If so, then congratulations! You are a blogger and are ready to start publishing on your own site.

How to tell if you are a content marketer

If you’re writing content in order to drive traffic back to your business, it’s probably content marketing—not blogging. The two can overlap, but they aren’t exactly synonymous.

Any business or brand (big or small) can use content marketing tactics to build a community around its products and services, engage with customers and grow brand awareness through compelling, useful information that also generates leads and sales opportunities in real time or over time.

That’s why content marketing is such a hot topic right now—it delivers measurable results!

Ways to integrate both into your writing life

Both blogging and content marketing can be integrated into your writing life to create an interesting and consistent flow of income. This marketing plan below should help.

If you’re trying to earn money from writing, you should start with one or both of these in your toolkit for income generation.

The trick is using them in harmony with one another instead of choosing between them—both have strong benefits that will help you create a more profitable writing career.

Common traits of bloggers

As a blogger, you’re not in charge of running an entire company; that makes things easier on you than they would be if you worked at an agency or in communications at a Fortune 500 company.

You’re also not marketing products or services – again, easier because that means you don’t have to worry about developing strategies for sales funnels or landing pages and whatnot.

But it does mean that as a blogger your work has to stand out without explicitly being about anything but your expertise and knowledge. However, all hope is not lost!

Common traits of content marketing

Take a look at what you’ll need to become a successful content marketer. First and foremost, you’ll have to learn how to tell stories that engage with your audience on an emotional level.

This requires speaking their language, whether it’s through storytelling or humor (more on that later). You must also be familiar with writing engaging headlines, developing calls-to-action (CTAs), and creating content packages that will deliver results for your business.

Successful marketers also understand that inbound marketing is more than just blogging; it involves collaboration between departments and strategic planning based on SEO goals and social media strategies.

Finally

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