Have you ever wondered what is the difference between Inbound Marketing and Content Marketing? Find out how these two concepts relate to each other!
Both Inbound Marketing and Content Marketing are relatively new concepts, and the consolidation of Digital Marketing in the Brazilian market has contributed for this discussion to flourish. After all, is there a difference or are they synonyms?
What we will see in this post is that the two concepts should not be treated as “differences” or as “synonyms”, but as each being a complement to the other.
The truth is that Content Marketing is one of the strategies of Inbound Marketing. However, there is no Inbound Marketing without Content Marketing.
We will explore each of these two concepts better and how they relate to each other:
What is Inbound Marketing
Using a free translation, we can define Inbound Marketing as Attraction Marketing. The idea behind Inbound is, instead of the company going after the client using orthodox marketing techniques, to make the client voluntarily find it through search engines, reference sites, social networks, etc..
In Inbound Marketing is the customer who arrives at the company’s site, but not immediately to buy, but to first seek answers he needs. Or, eventually, to kill a curiosity and, unintentionally, discover that he needs a solution.
It is a technique that fits perfectly in current times because it is increasingly common for people to use search engines to find answers to their questions.
Another important detail in Inbound Marketing is that the relationship is not limited to just visitor and client. Unlike traditional marketing, there is a sales funnel that follows a slightly more complex and detailed order:
- Visitor: You are familiar with your site and have not yet shared any contact information with your company;
- Lead: You have subscribed to a newsletter or you have downloaded for free a rich material, leaving some contact information such as “currency of exchange”, such as name, company name and email;
- Opportunity: These are Leads that are ready for purchase and that have been educated over time with content generated by the company. It is only at this moment that the salesperson will be in direct contact with the future customer.
- Customer: Now, the person after knowing and studying a lot about your problem, finally acquired your product.
In other words, it is not that relationship in which the person goes to the store and already becomes a customer directly. Inbound, sales are not “pushed”, they happen to people who already know the company, already know the problems they have and the solutions that can be delivered.
In addition, there are basically 5 fundamental steps that are part of an Inbound Marketing strategy. This makes the methodology a systematic, scalable and predictable customer acquisition process:
- Attract: Bring visitors to your site through content created. The attraction can be mainly by organic search, paid search or social networks;
- Convert: Collect user contacts in order to start a relationship with them, transforming them into Leads. The conversion can be done through a free offer of a product on a Landing Page.
- Relate: It’s the key to getting Leads through to the time of purchase. Use social media, work on your mailing lists and prepare for sale using Leads nutrition;
- Sell: After a previous relationship with the closest Leads, the moment of purchase becomes much easier and generates more results. Align Marketing and Sales teams and qualify your Leads to sell your product to the right people;
- Analyse: To keep the machine running and developing, examine each step and identify what needs adjusting.
What is Content Marketing
Going straight to the point, Content Marketing is all the content made to educate, inform, entertain a future customer. It is the fuel of Inbound.
The idea is to inform people so that in the future they not only respect the brand and have it as a reference, but also become customers.
The concept of “Content Marketing” is relatively new. However, their applications were already happening before the digital era. Yes, offline content marketing exists. And it’s been a while!
Historically contextualizing, in 1895 John Deere published the first issue of “The Furrow” magazine with a focus on agricultural issues. The magazine fulfills exactly the purpose of the concept: it is aimed at people interested in agriculture and who may one day have the need to buy a tractor, for example. It is one of the earliest records of Content Marketing, and since then several brands have made use of it.
Here at Digital Results, our Content Marketing strategy consists of publishing blog posts (like this one and also on the blogs Result Agencies and RD Station) and rich materials like eBooks, kits, tools and webinars, always related to Digital Marketing and Sales, which is our focus.
For example, let’s assume that your business is a travel agency. You can create a travel blog and start producing content on the subject to attract future customers.
Unlike a Press Office, Content Marketing is not about talking about the company itself, but about what the company can deliver (or do) for customers.
Is There Inbound Marketing Without Content Marketing?
The objective of Inbound Marketing is to attract people to an offer, exchange that offer for their data and educate them until they become customers.
However, this process of Inbound enters directly into contact with Content Marketing because there is no way to generate Leads without good content.
We can summarize briefly as Content Marketing being a strategy of relationship with the consumer and Inbound Marketing as a strategy of conversion and sales.
The truth is that there is no Inbound Marketing or Content Marketing, but rather Inbound Marketing and Content Marketing. Neither survives without the other.