Blog vs Instagram for Marketing (Which One is Better?)
With so many marketing options, it can be difficult to decide where to put your efforts. Is blogging worth it? What about Instagram? In this article, we’ll discuss blog vs Instagram for marketing so you can choose which one is best or maybe go with both.
With more new businesses than ever before, brands are juggling between social media platforms, blogging, and other marketing strategies to reach their target audience. With so many platforms, it can feel incredibly overwhelming trying to decide where to show up, so start with understanding your purpose, audience, and goals, which we’ll discuss more below.
Blog vs Instagram – An Overview
Both blogging and showing up on Instagram have benefits and drawbacks. They both take effort and time. With blogging, you need to understand SEO (search engine optimization) and how to write articles that rank on Google and connect with your target audience. With Instagram, you must understand the algorithm and create suitable content for your audience.
Here’s a quick overview of blogging vs. Instagram, with more details on each below.
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Blogging
Blogs are a place on the internet that you own. Your audience is yours, and that can't be taken away.
Blogging lets you optimize your website for SEO to show up organically on search engines. SEO is evergreen and one of the most budget-friendly digital marketing tactics.
When users land on your blog after searching Google, they're probably in a buyer mindset, so they're likely ready or almost ready to buy. Blogs can be written in a way that your readers want to become customers or clients.
If your blog has helpful content and is user-friendly, you can keep your audience on your site longer. If your site is set up for users to buy, this can help you reach your sales goals.
You can also use blogging to meet other goals in your business, like email newsletter sign-ups and ad revenue.
Blog topics can vary greatly depending on your goals – maintaining relationships, growing an audience, making sales, etc.
Blogs are evergreen and offer long-term results.
It’s easy to repurpose blog articles into other content, including social media, email newsletters, and YouTube videos.
Website/blog analytics are really valuable to your business. Your analytics can tell you many things about your audience, like who they are, what content they’re interested in, and which pages on your site they visit.
Instagram is meant to entertain, allowing brands to build connections, grow an audience, and increase brand awareness.
If you’re an Instagram influencer with a large following, sponsored posts can generate significant income.
While Instagram users aren’t usually in a buyer mindset, you can create content that encourages your audience to buy.
Features on your Instagram page, like commenting and messaging, make it easy for businesses to build relationships with their audience.
Instagram analytics allow you to learn more about your audience to help guide your content.
If an Instagram post goes viral, you have the potential to reach thousands or more with just one piece of content. That said, social media content isn't evergreen like a blog, and trends don’t usually last long.
Blog vs Instagram – A Consumer’s Perspective
Depending on your personal preferences, you may think, “Who even reads blog articles anymore?” or “I love to learn about services and products on their websites!”
Various consumers’ perspectives add to the difficulty in deciding which platforms for marketing are best. Knowing who your target audience is and where they like to consume content is key to helping you overcome this challenge.
You have a few things to figure out before you decide where your target audience is spending their time and buying.
Ask yourself: where’s your target audience going to be ready to buy?
Here are some questions to ask yourself when deciding where to spend your time marketing:
Who does my product or service help the most? What problems do they have? What's their budget to fix this? Use these questions to identify your ideal client or customer.
Where does my ideal client or customer spend more time? Do they look for products or services on search engines, social media, or both?
Can I better share solutions to my target audience's main problem on a blog or Instagram? It's okay if the answer is both!
Is my ideal client or customer likely to buy after reading a blog article and browsing my website or when they’re scrolling on Instagram?
If your audience is the Gen Z or millennial crowd, Instagram is an excellent place to be! On the other hand, almost all internet users, including younger and older consumers, spend time on search engines and read blog articles. In fact, 77% of internet users read blogs.
It’s important to keep in mind that Instagram was created for entertainment. Because of this, users are usually scrolling through the app for fun and to make connections. With that said, more and more people are using Instagram to learn more about products and services. So it is possible to make sales and earn money here.
With blogging, you know that users are searching Google for the solution to a problem, like “best skincare products for oily skin” or “how to travel on a budget.” And if they find what they're looking for, they might decide to buy. You can leverage this to give your ideal customer or client the answer to their problem with your product or service.
Conclusion: Blogs reach more people who are in a buyer mindset, while Instagram increases your brand awareness and helps you make connections.
Blog vs Instagram – For Passive Income
If you’re trying to make passive income, blogs and Instagram are both valuable platforms.
On blogs, you can make passive income through ads, affiliate marketing, and sponsored posts. You can also market eCom or digital products on your blog for (mostly) passive income.
On Instagram, you can make passive income through sponsored posts and online products. When Instagram influencers have a large following, it can be much easier than keeping up with a blog. With that said, it requires work to have enough followers to make money through sponsored posts or online products.
Conclusion: Blogging offers more potential for multiple income streams, while Instagram can bring in good income with less work if you have a large following.
Blog vs. Instagram – Analytics
Keeping up with your analytics is essential when trying to increase sales online because this allows you to learn more about your audience and create content that serves them. Any blogging platform and Instagram allows you to track analytics. Some are more insightful than others.
Website analytics can tell you about your audience and guide your content
Instagram shows details about your audience (age, location, etc.), your follower growth, and how much interaction your Instagram account is getting. This lets you learn more about your audience and share relevant content.
As someone who runs a blog and has managed many blogs, I can confidently say blogging offers unmatched analytics. When you have a website (where your blog is), you can use various resources to track analytics: your website builder, Google Search Console, and Google Analytics. Each of these offers many details about your blog and audience.
You can learn what your audience is searching for before they land on your page, their location, which posts are getting the most traffic, how long people stay on your pages and site, and so much more. This helps you know what content is working and what's not and guides you as you create future content.
Conclusion: Blogging analytics offers more insight than social media platforms, allowing you to share high-quality article content that'll bring you the most traffic, generate more leads, and increase sales.
Together Might Be Better
Truth be told – it can’t hurt to market your brand on a blog and Instagram. If anything, you reach more people and make even more money.
In fact, I use both Instagram and blogging for my copywriting business. I find that my Instagram account allows me to make connections and build trust with potential clients who aren't ready to buy yet. I can nurture them on Instagram until they're ready. Meanwhile, my website helps me connect with those who are ready to buy and shows my credibility.
I recommend having 2-3 platforms where you can reach your targeted audience. For most businesses, blogging and Instagram make an efficient combination.
Instagram is an excellent way to keep customers or clients in the loop, make more connections, reach more people, and bring your audience to your blog.
A blog is ideal for building trust, showing your expertise, and making more sales.
In other words – your blog is your business, while Instagram helps you promote the business. And both lead to growth.
Blog vs. Instagram: FAQ
Let’s look at some common questions about blogging vs. Instagram.
Is it better to start a blog or Instagram page?
A blog is best for creating evergreen content that can reach more people in a buyer's mindset. An Instagram page is best if your goal is to make connections with your target audience.
While I think using both tools can be very beneficial for meeting various business goals, I recommend starting with your blog. Then, once your blog gets going, you can use existing blog content to start building up your Instagram.
Should I use Instagram as a blog?
No, Instagram doesn't replace your blog, as they both serve very different purposes. Your Instagram is best for building connections with your target audience, while your blog helps you make money.
The biggest difference between a blog and Instagram is you own your blog. Whereas Instagram isn't yours, and you can lose your account and followers at any moment.
It's also important to understand that your blog/website content is also evergreen. Meanwhile, Instagram posts don't last long.
What I love about both Instagram and blogging is that you can use 1 blog article to create several Instagram posts. Just remember your Instagram account can be taken away at any point.
Is there a downside to blogging?
Some people think blogging isn't worth it because it requires time and effort. To see a return on investment with blogging, you need to write high-quality content that's optimized for SEO. This takes time – or money if you hire someone to help you.
If you learn the best SEO practices and keep up with blogging, you'll likely find within 6 months to a year that the pros of blogging outweigh the cons.
What type of blogs get the most traffic?
Research shows lifestyle blogs get the most traffic. These are blogs that discuss topics related to travel, wellness, food, fashion, etc.
However, any website can blog to see traffic increase by as much as 434%.
Blog vs. Instagram – Which One is Really Better?
If I had to pick just one, I’d choose blogging over Instagram. I find that blogs offer better results because you can reach more people in a buyer mindset without burning out. Blog content is evergreen, while Instagram content isn't, and fighting algorithms can be defeating.
That said, I recommend using marketing strategies you enjoy and that work to help you meet your specific goals. If you have time or the budget to hire help, you can also use both to increase your reach.
If you want to learn how to confidently write blogs that drive results, check out this start-to-finish roadmap for SEO blogging.
