What’s the Difference Between Brand Journalism and Content Marketing?

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What's the Difference Between Brand Journalism and Content Marketing?

If you’re just starting to venture into the world of inbound marketing and learning how blogging, articles and content can transform your marketing strategy, it can get a bit confusing. There’s so much unique industry lingo to learn.

Two popular terms are “brand journalism” and “content marketing”. Recently a reader asked me to shed a little insight on this topic.

Question: “Is there much of a difference between “brand journalism” and content writing/article marketing?”

~ Stephen Davies, Professional Internet Marketer and Manager PrimoQuest Marketing in Kingwood, Texas

Answer: Hi, Stephen! Thanks for reaching out with your question. With so many types of marketing in the playing field today, it’s tough to understand the subtle differences among them.

From a writer’s perspective, I see brand journalism as a specific type of content writing or article marketing.

In an overall sense, content marketing is using words and imagery — blog posts, social media updates, videos, podcasts, e-newsletters — to inform and inspire readers. Of course, since this is a business technique, there is an agenda. Content marketing is designed to generate brand recognition and ultimately bring business back to the publisher who generally sells goods or services.

So, when I talk about brand journalism, I think of it as a hybrid between journalism and marketing. Mix together research, interviews, statistics, quotes and a few other journalistic techniques with a company’s goals, new product launches or information about their services.

What you end up with it a relatable, reliable, informative piece of text that helps a company move forward in winning over their potential customers or solidifying relationships with their current fan base.

Stephen, I hope this gives you a little insight into the specifics of brand journalism and how it fits into a content marketer’s cadre of tools. This form of writing is one of my favorites since I get to flex my journalism muscles and get creative with a company’s marketing campaign.

Would you like to ask a question on Web Writing Advice? Send me a note and I might address your query in a future blog post! ~Angela

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