As businesses, we are always searching for new and effective strategies to connect with consumers.
All good advertising works to get attention, create an emotional response and use persuasion to encourage us to take action. But what is the best way to get our name out there? How do we reach our target audience?
You can work with an organic strategy, such as Content Marketing, or try a sponsored approach using advertising.
But when considering whether Content Marketing vs Advertising will work, the answer may not be quite that simple.
Merging these two strategies will give us more success in reaching our target audience. In this article, we will address the following topics:
Continue reading and find out how to implement these strategies to your advantage!
Traditional Advertising and Content Marketing
Years ago, traditional advertising was the only way to reach people. The internet, with 4.66 billion users worldwide, has changed the face of advertising and marketing.
Content Marketing is a newer way to connect with our target audiences.
Commercials, billboards, newsletters, traditional print media, and podcasts are all effective ways to reach your target audience.
These different platforms allow companies to connect with a wide range of potential consumers, build brand awareness and drive sales.
What Is Advertising?
Advertising is a way for us to call attention to our product or our service. The goal of traditional advertising is to gain brand awareness and promote the sale.
In the past, traditional advertising happened offline. Today, you can also advertise in the digital world.
This allows brands to promote themselves to a larger general audience. The bigger, the better
Types of Advertising
The best type of advertising leaves the consumer with a positive view of what we sell or offer. In other words, advertising should increase awareness.
Television
When we think about traditional advertising, a television commercial is a great example.
Remember the iconic Tootsie Pop commercial from 1968 that asked consumers how many licks it took to get to the center? Almost 60 years later, this traditional advertising clip is still effective.
Odds are that most of us have even tried the experiment ourselves. At least three colleges have attempted experiments to answer the question presented in the commercial. The results? Anywhere from 144 to 411 licks.
Does everyone want a sucker now? If so, we know this traditional advertising campaign worked.
Radio
Radio commercials are another platform for offline advertising. Radio commercials often rely on jingles with a hook that gets stuck in the consumers’ heads. These are sometimes referred to as earworms.
Even the annoying jingle is effective. Traditional advertising gets your product or service in front of the consumer and raises brand awareness. When it works,consumers call you or buy your products.
According to a recent survey, nearly 93% of participants picked “Nationwide is on your side” as the best-known jingle. The most annoying? Liberty Mutual.
The lesson? Either way, offline advertising works.
Traditional advertising also includes print ads. Print ads can appear in magazines, newspapers, or even in direct mailers.
We’ve all received a postcard in the mail advertising some product or service. Do you read them or immediately toss them in the trash with all your “junk mail”?
One of the newest forms of traditional advertising is direct or email ads. These targeted pieces often direct the consumer to a sale or promotion.
Google and Facebook Ads
In the digital world, traditional paid advertising typically means Google and Facebook Ads.
In fact, 70% of Digital Marketing goes to Google, Facebook and Amazon. This $73 billion industry is a great place to dabble in online advertising with varying amounts of investment, depending on the audience you want to influence.
What Is Content Marketing?
Content Marketing is a way to develop a relationship with target audiences by providing them with the content they desire.
Content Marketing allows us to build the brand while connecting with the audience in a variety of ways.
This strategy is focused on education and entertainment rather than quick sales or clicks on Google. Its goal is to provide value to customers and, in turn, create brand loyalty.
Types of Content Marketing
Social media posts, articles, in-person events, podcasts, newsletters, case studies, blogs, white papers, webinars: These are all examples of Content Marketing.
Content Marketing is popular, and nearly 91% of companies worldwide rely on it as a way to reach their target audiences.
A content strategy can increase traffic, develop brand awareness, raise search rankings and generate solid leads on new clients.
What Are the Differences Between Content Marketing and Advertising?
We have already mentioned some of the differences between Content Marketing vs Advertising.
Now we will highlight and explain a few important differences.
Cost
Content Marketing is affordable. Sometimes, is even free. When a consumer shares a post on social media or a blogger reviews a post, we get free marketing.
But if you want a consistent strategy, you might want to outsource your Content Marketing. This way you will guarantee that your blog is updated regularly, with content made by professional copywriters.
Nevertheless, advertising will always cost money. Google Ads cost as much as $1 to $2 per click. Thinking about a robust content strategy, this can get expensive by the end of the month.
Substance
Content Marketing is a strategy focused on creating a relationship with the audience.
You will work on different themes and subjects to clarify all of your reader’s doubts. And, after building this relationship with them, you will present your brand as the solution to their pains.
The consumer will buy from you because he developed a trust relationship with your brand.
When he needed the answers, you were there with high-quality content.
Paid ads, on the other hand, don’t build this type of relationship. Readers know that you paid to be in that position, so they know that you are trying to sell to them before building trust.
Time
Content Marketing is a long-term strategy. It will take time to create authority for your domain, and you need this to get the best rankings in Google.
You need to have a consistent strategy and be patient. But, once the results start to appear, you can trust that they will bring business opportunities for a long time.
Advertising, such as Google and Facebook Ads, can bring results in the short term. Once you pay for a specific keyword, you will appear on top of the SERP.
But, if you stop paying for this keyword, you stop appearing.
How Can You Merge Content Marketing and Advertising?
If this article has taught us anything, it is that both Content Marketing and Advertising are worthwhile. Both tactics are important for businesses to implement in their overall game plan for success.
Even better than using both strategies independently is finding a way to integrate the strategies from each form.
You can start your blog, take time to build a strong content strategy, and guarantee your authority. Meanwhile, invest in paid ads to make sure that you will bring business opportunities to your company.
Also, make sure you are using the best type of content when advertising them. Even though is a paid strategy, you still need to capture your audience’s attention.
To help you with this endeavor, there’s WriterAccess.
WriterAccess is the ideal platform to help you streamline your content production, combining the efficiency of AI-powered tools with the creativity of human writers.
Why not give it a try today? Enjoy 14 days of free access to our network of expert writers and discover what great content can do for your business!
