Comparing: Advertising – Direct mail – Social media – Content marketing

Every company has several marketing methods to choose from. However each method is not fitted for every company:

The durability

Advertising lasts as long as your budget lasts: exhaustive.
Direct mail lasts as long as your mailing list: exhaustive.
Social media marketing lasts as long the buzz goes on.
Content marketing will last until the content can’t be found on the Internet anymore.

The content use

Advertising is for companies with little content but having money to spend.

Direct mail is for companies wanting to promote at all cost and is intrusive:

Social media marketing is for companies that are creative to spike a conversation with their initial content and rely upon the added or enhanced content of the participants in the social media.

Content marketing is for companies producing massive amounts of content and distributing it through many channels in order to be found.

The engagement and impact

Advertising reaches as far as the money can pay for during a limited amount of time. The impact is minimal as there is probably no engagement.

Direct mail reaches as far as the mailing list reaches. The impact is minimal as it is intrusive and doesn’t engage at all.

Social media marketing can reach further if people pick it up and enhance it further but it is limited by the time the buzz lasts. The impact can be important for a while as people participate and engage.

Content marketing reaches far and last the longest as content nearly never dies on the Internet. The impact is less important and less massive but can engage many due to the long lasting effects and engagements.

For every company their budget, their creativity and their content generation will decide upon the best fitting marketing method.

What do you use: advertising, direct mail, social media marketing or content marketing ?
What would like to use in the future ?
What can you deliver ?