The eternal debate social networks vs. A blog has a reason for being and that is that many companies or people focus their strategies on the networks because there is more movement or interaction there and it is believed that it is not worth maintaining a blog, but is this true?
In this post you will understand the advantages and disadvantages of blogs and social networks, and what each one can contribute exclusively.
Differences between social networks and blog
To begin, we are going to review each of the elements that differentiate social networks and blogs.
1. Life of publications
Social networks
A post on social networks has a very short life; It goes from hours to days, depending on each platform. Later, users will no longer be able to see it so easily, as it stops appearing on Start and is forgotten.
For this reason, social networks are a good option when it comes to immediacy or ads that have an expiration date, such as promotions.
blogging
Business blogs are more permanent. Although the entries are ordered chronologically, the information is available for consultation at any time the user wishes.
Because of this, it is the best way to post information that will be useful for a long period of time, for example, all the content that will always help prospects or customers further down the sales funnel.
2. Frequency of publication
Social networks
Due to the short life of posts on networks, it is necessary to update our accounts more often to keep them alive and ensure that users will be seeing us continuously.
There are even experts who advise posting once or up to three times a day (different content) on the networks so that you can reach your audience.
You have to research the best hours for each platform and see what type of content works best for your company.
blogging
As for blogs, although you do have to have a rhythm, it is not essential that it be so constant because the entries do not have an expiration date.
So we have more freedom when establishing the frequency with which we will publish, depending on our needs or circumstances.
You can start by making an entry every week or every 15 days, even every month. The ideal is that, at the beginning, you publish constantly because only then can you gain relevance and authority.
Just remember that the content has to be of good quality. If you post a lot, but it’s not relevant to your audience, it won’t do any good.
3. Extension of the content
Social networks
On social networks, viewing or reading time is very low. Therefore, it is key to use visual content that contains only a couple of lines.
The most important thing has to be inside the images, which are the ones that people will see with the most attention, but you don’t have to be saturated because they will most likely pass by.
blogging
Regarding blogs, people read more because they come to them from a specific doubt or question and they are interested in solving it, so they are able to dedicate more time and attention to it.
The key is that your content adds value, according to the topic it deals with, and that it is easy to read or consume. If you use too many technicalities or the structure is weird, you will most likely scare them away.
4. Web positioning
Social networks
Publications on social networks, as I told you, are fleeting, so it can be difficult to base your entire content strategy on a fleeting medium with changing and futile visibility.
It’s like wanting to always have good results just by advertising with a megaphone in the streets. Yes, you can grab attention, but only from those who are there at the time, there is no more reach.
Social networks are not positioned within Google (only Pinterest) so the relevance of your posts is very low in the long term.
Even if it’s all on your profile, do you really think people scroll down your entire feed to see what you’ve posted? No.
blogging
Blogs do rank on Google.
For that reason, even if you publish posts and have no visitors, you have the possibility of generating long-term traffic.
There are many posts that were written months or years ago and that continue to be visited thanks to search engines.
You just have to work on optimizing the content you create and have a strategy and believe me, if everything is well planned, you can aspire to have great results.
5. Ownership of information
Social networks
In social networks, there is more freedom in terms of the information that is shared. Third-party content may be published, such as blog articles, news, etc. But there is also the possibility of only posting your own and original content.
Just keep in mind that because of how often you have to post, posting third-party information makes the pace easier, plus posting from others gives them visibility and can help us earn their appreciation and build links.
This opens up the possibility for them to do the same to us, also giving us a bit more visibility.
blogging
As for blogs, the content has to be yes or yes original and own.
You cannot duplicate content because Google sanctions it, removing visibility to your web pages within the browser.
Blogs are great for displaying or publishing informative content, but also success stories, presenting news with a personal touch or giving your opinion and much more.
This means that it is more valuable, but also that you must invest more time to create your content.
Social networks and blog must be aligned
The reality is that both social networks and blog have to be aligned in terms of strategy, if not, you are losing great opportunities to position yourself and reach your ideal audience.
And there are multiple reasons to give weight to both.
1. You boost your results
All the followers of your social networks are important pieces because they have already shown a certain interest in your company, which is why they have decided to follow you.
For this reason, it is very likely that they will be interested in content that you publish on your blog. The best thing to take advantage of this is that you use social media to boost your articles, so they can be aware of updates and you can generate more traffic.
Without a social media plan, you’re missing out on viewing opportunities. So work on a networking calendar and frequently share new posts on your social networks.
2. You know more about your target audience
Social networks are excellent for getting opinions and receiving reactions to your content, which will help you to know what is liked and what is not in each one.
Many have analysis tools so you can understand the performance of each post and this is key to obtaining relevant information or data from your followers.
If you publish a blog post on social networks and see that there were a good number of reactions or interactions, you will know that the content was valuable and appreciated and you will know what type of posts are most valued by your audience.
3. You recognize the value of your blog content
Social platforms not only help you know what works, but also how good your blog posts are.
If, for example, you are generating good traffic from the networks, but the time spent on the articles is low, it means that something is not right and you should make changes to your content.
Maybe your articles aren’t answering common questions from your users or maybe they aren’t well written and they get tired and decide to leave. No matter what it is, you will know there is a problem there.
4. Generate more engagement from your blog
Social networks greatly facilitate communication between potential customers and companies and improve the relationship between them.
But not only that. They are also great for sharing entertaining content in formats like memes, videos, or gifs.
Engagement is evident in social networks with a good strategy, but what about the blog? Well, you can also increase it with your blog posts by making integrations and allowing users to extract quotes and put them on Twitter or Facebook.
All these extra elements will help you to have a greater participation by users and generate more traffic to your blog.
Social networks vs. blog: which one to choose then?
The reality is that social networks and blogs do not have to compete. Both complement each other when disseminating information and generating engagement .
You can use your blog and add the icons or links to your social networks so that they follow you or share your posts directly.
If you do not manage to align your blog and your social networks, your strategy will constantly be limping, because you will not be using the channels available to you to share information with your audience and you will lose opportunities to have more readers and more prospects.
You just have to include other elements to the blog and social networks, such as SEO (search engine positioning) in order to build a powerful content marketing strategy.
The important thing is that you know exactly what to post on social networks and your blog, taking into account the points that I explained in this post.
Business blogs that are based on Inbound strategies can be a very powerful tool for you to get closer to your customers through valuable and fresh content, worthy of being shared.
So if you have questions about how to complement and enhance the efforts you make on the blog and on social networks, schedule an appointment with us. We can help you redouble your efforts and obtain more and better results that are relevant to your company.
