Are inbound and content marketing the same thing?

If you read enough on the subject of inbound and content marketing, you may see the belief expressed that inbound and content marketing are the exact same thing, and that those who use both terms are splitting hairs. There is some truth to this, but there are also some important distinctions between the two.

Inbound marketing and a content marketing strategy are similar because they both involve a more holistic view of marketing that focuses on satisfying visitor or customer needs. Both are non-interruptive, and both rely on the slow, steady creation of a relationship between the brand and customer to make a sale.

However, content and inbound marketing aren’t the same because the activities involved are different. In fact, it wouldn’t be incorrect to say that content marketing is part of an inbound marketing strategy. Inbound marketing refers to the methods that are taken to convert a visitor into a customer once they have ended up on a website. Content marketing is just a section of that, because it focuses on very specific methods of content creation and distribution.

So, while both are non-interruptive, modern marketing methods, they aren’t really the same thing. They may have the same end goal, but the methods they involve are different.

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