The word “content” is one that is thrown around a lot in marketing rooms nowadays. Over the last decade, it has taken on so many new meanings. Content is copy, it is video, it is data, it is illustrations, it is wireframes…it is everything. The word has snuck its way into a slew of marketing terms, for example, content marketing, content strategy, and content creation. At a quick glance, you may read those titles and wonder if they all mean the same thing, but once you dive in you realize how important each piece is, in not only completing a project but also having it be successful.
Many times, when I am looking at a comparison of two or more concepts, I like to take a look at their basic definitions. This gives me a fundamental understanding before I jump into the nitty-gritty.
Content Marketing: Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.
Content Strategy: Content strategy is the discipline responsible for satisfying business requirements through content creation and distribution.
Content Creation: Content creation is the process of generating topic ideas that appeal to your buyer persona, creating written or visual content around those ideas, and making that information accessible to your audience as a blog, video, infographic, or other format.
After laying these definitions out and reading them through I had two key thoughts:
- I confirmed that these undertakings all, in fact, implement different tasks within the completion of a project.
- While they are different, they do overlap at the start and finish of their processes, creating a marketing lifecycle of sorts.
The Content Marketing Institute had a great way of describing the relationship between content marketing and content strategy in laymen’s terms, comparing the prior to using magic markers to draw and the latter using fine-tip pens. Content marketing helps create a big picture and one that is more focused on organizational goals (aka making profit). They answer questions like, “What audience are we looking to reach?” and “What content do we want to share with that audience?” Content strategists then go in, fine-tune the messaging, and strategize the best plan for its distribution. They answer questions like, “What tone of voice should we use?” and “What channels of distribution will make the biggest impact?”
Moving on to the relationship between content strategy and content creation, we see another hand-off in the marketing process. Once the content strategy is completed it is then time to create and finalize the content. Rachel Lovinger gives a good analogy stating, “Content strategy is to [content creation] as information architecture is to design.” If you are not familiar with these terms, she is basically saying that the blueprint is completed and now it is time to build. A content creator can come in the form of many different job titles. Keeping in the realm of marketing, some examples are graphic designers, web developers, video producers, or copywriters.
Further Explanation Through Example
Project
Promote the opening of Perkatory Roasters Coffee Shop in Southington, CT
Content Marketer
We know that there is currently a successful Perkatory Roasters in Middletown, CT. Their primary customers are millennial coffee drinkers from around the state. We would like to create a digital media campaign to reach this audience and alert them of the opening of the new location in Southington. The campaign should state when they are opening doors as well as provide information on their grand opening promotion*.
*Free small coffees all day the day doors open, no purchase required.
Content Strategist
Since we are looking to grab the attention of millennials we will be using social media as our main channel of distribution.
We will create a series of Perkatory branded cinemagraphs* to share on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Information about the opening will be shared in captions. Cinemagraphs have been proven to catch the attention of users more than stagnant photography.
A 15-second video* clip will also be produced to share via Instagram stories and YouTube.
All social media posts will be heavily targeted to Southington and all surrounding towns.
*Creative specifications: Casual and conversational copy, focus on ‘craft coffee,’ ‘moody’ lighting.
Content Creators
We will copy write captions for social, storyboard and write scripts for video production, shoot and edit all final digital media.
With the ever-growing advancement of digital platforms comes the never-ending development of marketing. Keeping up with it all is a job in itself. Hopefully, this breakdown helped bring some clarity to questions you may have had prior to stumbling upon this blog.
Samantha Mantiglia 