Digital Marketing vs Content Marketing: Which is Right for YOU?

So, you want to get started building your digital content business. You have heard the phrases digital marketing and content marketing and you are wondering what on earth is the difference and where should you spend your time? I got you.

Digital Marketing is the very large umbrella that focuses on reach and return on investment.

That includes your website, your YouTube channel optimization, SEO, your keyword targeting, and your paid marketing efforts like Google ads, YouTube promotions. It also includes your monetization – your affiliate links. It is the brain of your digital business. It is very data driven and tactical. And here on YouTube, there are a lot of channels who focus solely on digital marketing – you have seen a ton of these creators whose videos are about optimization and youtube growth and the road to monetization. They are talking about digital marketing. 

Content Marketing on the other hand is about building trust. It is about storytelling. It is often about thought leadership. It is what defines your brand voice.

Sometimes it is what humanizes a brand, and includes blogs, educational videos, social media posts, interviews, podcasts, video series. It is not as focused on the bottom line. Its purpose is not directly converting viewers into customers. Content marketing is focused on building a relationship with your audience usually by understanding their pain points and delivering content that helps them solve those pain points – or entertains them. If digital marketing is the brain of your digital business, content marketing is the heart. Here on YouTube, these are the creators you learn from often through their experience. Creators whose story or mission you are invested in. Creators who are experts and want to share their knowledge. Content marketing is what makes your content feel honest and authentic whereas digital marketing without any kind of voice can feel optimized and tactical.

Digital marketing is for audience development.

Content marketing is for audience retention. 

The question is where you should spend your time.

The short answer is you do both. I’m sorry – that may seem overwhelming.

Content strategy is often a balance of intuition and information. The art and science of creating the right content for the right audience in the right place at the right time.

My content strategy approach is that as a new creator looking to build a content business, you lean more towards content marketing at first. You build trust first. So you build your brain voice. But you still need to consider your digital marketing because it is that optimization that helps grow the audience. And so how does that work? First, you identify your target audience and figure out what they are searching for on your platform of choice. You can do that by doing different searches on the platform, using Google Trends, or using an SEO service like VidIQ or TubeBuddy. Then you create content that answers those questions.

I hope that helps. For more content strategy and tips, click on the video YouTube is recommending. Until then, I will see you soon.