One of the most important things to take into account when marketing your product is what type of marketing is called for in a given situation. After all, marketing is all about messaging, and you don’t want to send mixed messages or, worse, the wrong message. It is thus of utmost importance that you make sure you are using the right type of marketing for content as opposed to marketing for your products.
Unfortunately, marketing teams far too often make the mistake of simply conflating the two.
Fortunately, this guide can help disentangle and demystify the distinction for you.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is the type of marketing you employ to create engagement with consumers as they consume information about your products, the industry and region you service, and other pertinent details. The content can consist of articles, blog posts, videos, social media posts, and similar content.
For example, if you work in the travel industry, your content can include articles about travel destinations, hotels, flights, and other pertinent information which is both interesting for readers and targeted to the topic in question.
This type of content should not typically be explicit in pushing any products and services. Instead, it should be about topics pertinent to your products and services, with maybe an integrated link or two to your products. This integration should be as organic as possible.
In short, content marketing is the “soft sell” of the online marketing world.
Product Marketing
By contrast, product marketing is far more explicit. Here, you are directly engaged with your product or service, creating articles, posts, and other content that features and describes the subject in question. You want to be sure to show consumers what sets your product apart from others on the market.
You want to take care to include your core product messaging points in this type of content. Content marketing should engage clients with material that is pertinent to the greater industry. Product marketing is all about your product.
With that distinction in mind, you should be able to create more targeted and effective content and product marketing materials.