Content Marketing Social Media and Content Marketing – Top Differences and Advantages

Have you ever wondered whether social platforms can boost your content consumption? How can you use social platforms to aid content marketing for the best results? While these digital marketing techniques have striking differences, the good news is that you can align the odds in your favour. In this blog, we discuss the differences between social media and content marketing along with their advantages.

Social Media Marketing And Content Marketing Main Difference

Social media is strikingly different from content marketing. The former has proven to be a game changer and it is a relevantly new addition to the marketing paradigm. An interesting thing to note is that the number of active social media users has crossed 4.2 billion to date. Thus, it means that over 53.6% of the global population uses social media. This number indicates that 490 Million more users have joined social media as compared to 2020. ^[1]

On the other hand, content marketing is a very old yet highly effective marketing technique. Since humans learned communication, the need for sharing information and engaging content has gained momentum. In fact, shareable content is among the top 2022 content marketing trends.

So, what is the difference between social media and content marketing? The simple explanation to this question is that:

Social Media focuses on reader participation and then Behavior. Contrastingly, content marketing focuses on content consumption and then reader behaviour. 

It means that social media marketing is more focused on getting interactive with the audience. For example, you can ask questions taken from a Random Question generator to engage with your audience on social media.

Contrastingly, content marketing focuses mainly on creating, distributing and promoting content consumption among audiences.

Suggested Read: What is Content Distribution in Digital Marketing & How Can AI Help With It?

In social media, professional marketers essentially share content to interact, communicate and support the customers. It can bring advocacy, brand awareness and even conversions. However, unlike content marketing which is essentially conversational, social media marketing is reactive. Social media ads support marketing ROI.

Also Read: Craft Your Social Media Ad Copy To Perfection – Top 5 Tips

Social Media: User Moves From Participation to Behavior 

Content Marketing: User Moves From Consumption to Behavior

Common Goals of Content and Social Marketing

Is content marketing and social media marketing the same thing? Although both these marketing tools are strikingly different, they do share some common objectives. 

Social media lets marketers share content randomly or according to their predefined content calendar. Additionally, the social media marketing strategy is mainly focused on the goal of boosting brand awareness among existing, new and potential prospects and customers. 

Social Media channels not only help unearth the various streams for better other streams of marketing but also support the overall marketing performance. Since social media marketing is focused on spurring discussions and activities from the audience segments, social channels play an important role in brand advocacy. 

Through direct discussions, social media also helps in promoting positive word of mouth, which is the strongest form of marketing. 

Social Media Marketers Role	Content Marketers Role
Distribute and Share Content on: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram	Produce, publish and distribute Content Such as: Blogs, Videos, Podcasts
Acquire and Translate Expertise on Marketing, Product and Brand Aesthetic	Acquire and Translate Expertise on Product and Brand Aesthetic
Create, Own, Manage and Tweak Content Calendar	Create, Own and Manage Content Calendar
Own and Manage Marketing Channel	Own and Master a Marketing Tactic

The Common Link – Quality Content!

Social media marketing is only as effective as content quality. Good quality content can bring healthy prospects and customers to a brand’s channels. Thus, quality content marketing helps in building stronger relationships with the audience. 

Stronger customer links lead to more demand generation and thus, the content marketing goals are met.

The next phase is demand fulfillment and retention. Social media marketing helps in customer support, customer retention and customer satisfaction for consistent results.

Top Advantages of Social Media Marketing

Both types of marketing are complementary to each other. The rise in social media storytelling is changing the way marketers engage with prospects and customers. However, the consistent increase in content marketing is only going to support social media marketing – not replace it. 

Although both these marketing entities are different things with varying functions, both of them can act synergistically to support overall marketing.

Here are some top advantages of social media marketing:

1. Social media is an extension for boosting content reach
2. Social media offers a direct communication channel with prospects and customers
3. These Social channels support SEO ranking and social platform ranking of the brand’s online assets 

How can AI help with Social Media Marketing?

Today, the main marketing focus is automation and scaling. AI can not only speed up content creation for social media but also align the brand voice with specific reader context.

See how AI Can Craft Engaging Social Media Captions For Your Brand

AI works well for supporting content marketing as well.

Key Takeaways

Social media and content marketing are different from one another from their point of origin. Fortunately, they can share similar goals and have advantages over one another. However, both these entities will play their role to support overall marketing separately. Thus, the main challenge for social media marketers is to keep up with rapid social media expansion and align new trends with brand objectives.

Social Media and Content Marketing FAQs

Is content marketing part of social media marketing?

Content marketing is a part of social media marketing. The reason is that content is used to educate, entertain, inform and get action from customers. Thus, the essential messages of content marketing support the social media efforts for raising brand awareness and shaping customer experiences.

How does social media affect content marketing?

Social channels and content marketing go hand in hand to enhance the audience acquisition and retention on respective platforms. For instance, if you have more social media followers, you will have more readers for your content.

What are the benefits of using content marketing instead of social channel marketing?

The top benefits of using content marketing over social marketing is to boost brand awareness, and improve brand perception of trust and loyalty. Moreover, content marketing helps add an authoritative touch to everything you share on social platforms. Finally, it is also good for sustainable brand growth.

References:
[1] Social Media Statistics, Facts and Trends – BloggingWizard