For the first time in a long time, I was asked the difference between inbound marketing and content marketing. My answer wasn't as up to date as possible, so I dug around a bit.
Let's gather you guys together, it's been a hot minute since we talked about marketing introspection.
State of inbound marketing
Truth be told, before I reply to my colleague and begin this article, I must learn to understand the current state of inbound marketing. If I'm being completely honest, I haven't heard a lot about that from my clients, who tend to be larger global organizations. It's not on my radar.
A quick review of Google Trends seems to match my experience. It shows a comparison of interest between the terms of inbound marketing (blue line) and content marketing (red line).
@GoogleTrends shows less interest in #InboundMarketing and more interest in #ContentMarketing over the past decade @Robert_Rose @CMIContent. Click to Tweet
Ten years ago, both maturities had similar interest rates. Since then, the term content marketing increasingly interested in; Inbound marketing remains relatively static. Our 2022 research supports this: Content marketing has become more of a priority in a world ending a pandemic.
The perceived difference between the two methods inevitably emerges from this data. But what is it?
Well, for what it's worth, my opinion concerns HubSpot's aggregate growth (and perhaps some removal of emphasis) of the term as it expands its product suite. me. Simply put, as HubSpot launches everything from ad campaign management, Salesforce automation, help desk apps, content management and customer service, HubSpot is no longer just a help desk tool. Generate top leads. It is a complete CRM suite that competes with many other enterprise marketing clouds. It only makes sense that their definition of inbound will evolve and broaden.
Inbound marketing has evolved from its original description in the name of 2009 books of the same name by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shaw of HubSpot. They observed that traditional overseas sales and marketing was replaced by online shopping for buyers. Pulling those buyers into a website content “hub” is key.
As stated in the book, inbound marketing is “about being found online, through search engines, and on sites like Facebook and YouTube and Twitter…”
Now, in 2021, HubSpot updated its definition:
Inbound marketing is a business method that engages customers by creating valuable content and experiences that are relevant to them.
@HubSpot has expanded the definition of #InboundMarketing to something that sounds like #ContentMarketing, @Robert_Rose via @CMIContent said. Click to Tweet
Well, that sounds very similar CMI definition of content marketing .
But isn't it? Is there any difference?
Content Marketing Status
Without a doubt, content marketing as a method has evolved over the course of a decade.
To this day, we still define content marketing is “a strategic marketing method for creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the goal of driving beneficial action.” of cutomer."
But, again, that sounds almost like how HubSpot now defines inbound, which is pretty honest even a bit more concise.
We've always taught that content marketing is, in many ways, about how marketing in product and service companies works more like a media company. And like a media company, we've asserted that building a registerable, addressable audience different from building a marketing database . While that goal wasn't in our original definition – it has certainly evolved to become the core goal and differentiator to practice.
As early as 2011, when Joe and I published Content Marketing Manager , we said that “the job of marketing is no longer about creating customers, but about generating subscribers who are passionate about our brand.” In hindsight, I regret the hype there - and Peter Drucker's subtle rebuttal. If I were to rewrite that sentence today, I would say, “Marketing’s job is to create customers and generate passionate subscribers for our brand.”
In that sentence, we can see the trend build audience is developing and focusing on the practice of content marketing. At the same time, it also separates content marketing from the embodiment of inbound marketing.
Simply put: The job of marketing in the ever-expanding, omnichannel, transformed digital world is to generate customers AND create an audience that subscribes to your brand. Both can create wealth for business .
The difference in its content and purpose
See more in HubSpot's methodology For inbound marketing, they cite examples of what the “flywheel” is about – attracting strangers, engaging prospects, and delighting customers and promoters. They say:
To reach your audience, start by creating and publishing content, such as blog posts, syndicated content and social media – that provide value. Examples include instructions on how to use your product, information on how your solution can solve their challenges, customer testimonials, and details on promotions or discounts.
The goal of the inbound marketer, they say, is: “attract new leads to your company, engage with them at scale, and delight them.”
That is completely clear to me. The purpose of inbound becomes to enable optimized sales and marketing – and, as Drucker put it, to generate a customer.
In other words, as an inbound marketer, you provide content to help buyers buy something. It's the content that speaks to your brand, your products, your services, and continually builds trust in those things so that you have, Hold or increase customers.
Content marketing is really different. It's not better. It's not worse. It complements inbound marketing. As we have said many times, Content marketing is an exponential to traditional marketing and advertising. Content Marketing:
It's all just marketing
My favorite definition of marketing is from Philip Kotler, who said the practice is “the science and art of discovering, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit. ”
That is the perfect definition. It matches both input and content as a qualifier.
If I were to put my answer on a really long bumper sticker or a small print on a t-shirt, this would be what it looks like:
Inbound is a modernized marketing method designed to use content in the buyer's journey to convert leads into loyal customers.
Content marketing is a marketing approach designed to use content throughout the customer journey to turn engaged, registered audiences into a differentiated business asset.
They work side by side, side by side as part of an integrated marketing mix. They differ only in the type of content created and how that content (and its impact on the audience) generates wealth for the business.
Side note: I have intentionally used "customer" instead of "object" in this definition. Customers are both people who buy our products and services, and who interact with brands, recommend them, etc. I explain more about that in This news .
For years, both inbound marketing and content marketing practitioners have guessed that at some point the terms may not matter. Conventional wisdom is that both methods are considered “good marketing.”
Maybe HubSpot's evolution of inbound marketing into a broader operation has been successful; It has been so successful that it has simply become the modern methodology for what we used to call “direct marketing”. Marketing departments are everywhere. As we see vehicle operation Participating in marketing departments, monetizing audiences in ways beyond simply “generating customers” is still a newcomer.
Media ownership is inevitably becoming a strategic move for organizations. We see:
We see organic builds like:
A move is a step beyond the strategic mar interest is simply a way to facilitate the buying journey.
In 2021, marketing is expanding, more important than ever. Both inbound marketing and content marketing are extremely important. Or, as my friend Joe wrote 10 years ago:
(T) there is no black and white in marketing here; all gray. There is no silver bullet. Marketing goals sometimes need to be solved by a combination of efforts, not by putting all your eggs in one basket.
The good news is that we can learn from both.
Cover photo by Joseph Kalinowski / Content Marketing Institute
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