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When some people hear “content marketing,” they think of “blogging”. While it does often go along with content marketing, it’s not the entire kit and caboodle. There are several reasons why blogging is a key part of content marketing. But blogging is not a substitute or stand-in for content marketing entirely. Here’s your guide to blogging and content marketing and the difference between the two.

Blogging Is Content Marketing.

But Content Marketing Isn’t Just Blogging

Blogging and content marketing can be one in the same. But it’s not enough to simply post a few articles and tell the world your brand uses content marketing.

To understand how the two are connected but distinct, it helps to look at the definitions of each.

Content marketing, according to the Content Marketing Institute, is, “A strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

A blog, according to ProBlogger, is, “A type of website that is usually arranged in chronological order from the most recent “post” (or entry) at the top of the main page to the older entries towards the bottom.”

The difference between blogging and content marketing is pretty much anyone can have a blog. That includes everyone from 75-year-old grandmothers to 13-year-old teeny boppers. Individuals can have blogs just for fun. Businesses, on the other hand, have blogs to connect with customers and help solve problems.

Usually, individuals who have blogs aren’t particularly interested in content marketing. But that can change as their blogs develop larger followings. Only then do they see the convergence of blogging and content marketing. It’s when they realize the opportunity to convert their blogs into businesses.

In general, it’s largely businesses who use blogging as part of their content marketing. That’s where the relationship between blogging and content marketing becomes more intertwined.

Aspects of Blogging And Content Marketing

Usually when companies have blogs, they’re part of a larger content marketing strategy. You can bet brands that mastered content marketing aren’t publishing at random. Neither are they going entire weeks without posting a new blog.

Brand that use blogging and content marketing take it seriously.

Here’s what goes into a proper business blogging and content marketing strategy:

Topic research

A brand might look at blog posts created by its competitors. It might have Google news alerts set up to get messages about trending topics. It’s also likely to have an idea what to publish and when to publish it in order to have the greatest impact.

Keyword research

Blogging is often part of a larger SEO strategy for content marketing. That means that brands that are using blogging are also performing keyword research to figure out what they can get their content to rank for, and where the greatest or least amount of competition is.

Promotion

It’s not enough to hit “publish” on a blog post. Your brand needs to have a plan for promoting the post so the most people possible will see it. That can involve working with influencers who share the post with their social media following, or using other forms of paid promotion to draw attention to the latest blog post.

Finding ways to increase leads and conversions

When a brand uses blogging for content marketing, there’s often a goal behind it. That goal can be to increase leads, or to actually convert readers into paying customers. For that reason, a blog post used as part of a content marketing plan will usually have a call to action at some point, encouraging the reader to take the next step.

Having a team create and review the post

In the earliest days of blogging, the form was known for having lots of typos and spelling errors. While the occasional typo still makes its way into posts, blog posts used for content marketing are generally much more polished. That’s because a content marketing team (usually involving at least one editor) works together to create, edit, and prepare each post for publication.

Benefits of Blogging and Content Marketing

Although you often hear that visual forms of content are pushing good old blogging out of the nest, it still remains a popular content type. According to research from the Content Marketing Institute, blogs are among the top three most effective forms of content for both B2B and B2C marketers. About 47 percent of B2C marketers and 45 percent of B2B marketers consider blogging to be one of the most effective content types.

Do You Need Blogging and Content Marketing Strategy?

There are some who argue that you no longer need to have a blog if you want to use content marketing. While it’s true that some brands are better suited to video or image-based content than others, it’s also true that a blog can support both video and image-based content.

Done right, your brand’s blog can serve as a repository or hub for your content. That means that if you mainly create videos, you can create blog posts featuring those videos. It also means that you can create blog posts around photos, infographics, and other images.

Don’t let the word “blog” make you think that you need to produce 1,000-word posts on the regular. Your brand’s blog can be the place where you post whatever type of content works best for you, whether it’s videos, long-form articles, photos, or what have you.

Want to learn the ins and outs of B2B Content Marketing strategy?

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