Content marketing and social media

Similar to the way SEO and content marketing are two distinct digital marketing campaigns that overlap (which we discussed in our last piece), social media campaigns and content marketing campaigns can and should coexist, too, benefiting both.

Targeted content and social media are designed to attract attention and are, ultimately, marketing tools that can be used to "pull" audiences to your brand. They work very well together because, while they share the same goal, they approach it differently. Creating content that is valuable to your target market, whether it be news, blog posts or white papers, will establish an audience that values you as a source of information and this will draw them to your product or service.

Engaging with the audience

Social media, on the other hand, is a way to engage with your audience by encouraging a conversation. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking sites connect the consumer with your brand and with other consumers through dialogue. Used together, social media and the targeted content behind a content marketing campaign reinforce each other.

The conversation you have with your audience through social media can be used to spread awareness of your content marketing campaign. It allows you to share new content with the consumer and, at the same time, allows the consumer to share relevant or interesting content with other consumers. This has the added benefit of boosting your SEO as links to your content are shared and more people view it.

Social media is, in essence, the perfect conduit for your carefully crafted content. It is a great way to distribute your content and analyse its impact.

In our next piece we'll look at how content marketing can speak to brands, publishers and agencies.

For more:

• Bizcommunity: What is content marketing?, 9 November 2012
  
• Bizcommunity: Content analysis explained, 11 November 2012
  
• Bizcommunity: Difference between content marketing, SEO, 21 November 2012