Inbound Marketing vs. Content Marketing

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We’ve been talking quite a bit about “content” when it comes to inbound, so let’s pause for a minute to clarify one thing.

While many companies treat inbound marketing and content marketing as synonyms, they are not the same thing at all.


In fact, most people would probably say that content marketing is a strict subset of inbound, a very important part of it, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.

Content marketing is exactly what it sounds like: creating valuable, high-quality online content that improves your relationship with a target audience.


This content can take the form of blog articles, long-form content, sales marketing directors manager email database social media posts, infographics, eBooks, podcasts, videos, or any other format you think will be relevant to the people you’re trying to reach.

Different types of content are used to guide people toward a purchase. Your content can address a wide range of pain points and concerns, depending on people’s mindsets and their positions in the buyer’s journey. This content will “nurture” them through the sales funnel toward the final purchase decision.


In inbound, content is divided into three categories based on the likelihood of the target audience making a purchase: top of the funnel, middle of the funnel, and bottom of the funnel.


Top of the Funnel (TOFU):

TOFU content is typically intended for the awareness/conversion stage, and usually comes in the form of blog articles that readers discover through search engines, social media, or email marketing.

This content should be targeted at the widest possible audience to encourage the highest number of conversions (in other words, the highest number of people entering the funnel). It

typically grabs attention by addressing a particular question or pain point that your audience commonly faces. Since you’re only looking to get readers to convert, you should avoid overt sales pitches at this stage.


Middle of the Funnel (MOFU):

MOFU content is intended for leads who have already converted, but aren’t ready to buy right away yet. Some of the most valuable types of MOFU content are educational resources like webinars and eBooks.

This content can get more technical and go a little deeper into the benefits of your product, with a more obvious selling point. Because of the wide diversity of leads at this stage, MOFU content can also borrow from TOFU and BOFU content.


Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU):

BOFU content is what businesses use when prospects are on the verge of closing, but haven’t yet. At this stage, you can feel comfortable throwing just about anything at them: case studies, spec sheets, demos, and free trials. Now that we’re talking about content marketing, let’s get back to inbound. While inbound marketing

almost certainlyincludes insightful, impactful content, it’s just one piece of the puzzle.


Along with the content described above, Inbound encompasses a variety of strategies designed to attract the attention of your potential customers and convert them into paying customers. Inbound relies heavily on tools such as:


Calls to action: Text and images that encourage your audience to take action or contact your business after engaging with your content.
Landing pages: Web pages that persuade users to download or subscribe to content offers, such as e-books and guides.

Forms: Obtaining users' contact information, such as their name, email address, job title, and interests, in exchange for content or something else of value.

Website analytics: Software platforms that capture information about your website visitors, in order to track user behavior and measure the performance of your content.

Customer relationship management (CRM) software: Systems that help you store and manage your interactions with prospects and customers throughout the sales lifecycle.