Social Media Marketing vs Digital Marketing: What’s the Difference?

No matter the industry, no matter the product, marketing is one of the most important things that your business can – and should, be doing. Why? Because, in short, marketing helps sell your product or service.

 

Your company, product and service are amazing, and you know it. But do your customers (and your potential customers)? Quality marketing allows you to brag about just how amazing you are! Why wouldn’t you want to share that to the world?

 

Engaging with customers and potential customers is a core function of every business, but in today’s world, in-person interaction, although important, simply isn’t enough. That’s where digital marketing and social media marketing come in.

 

Let’s start with digital marketing.

 

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is any and all marketing that takes place on the internet or electronically. It excludes “traditional” advertising such as printed ads, phone calls, door-to-door sales. Digital marketing encompasses:

 

1. Search Engine Optimization – The process of improving (or ‘optimizing’) your rank on search engines, like Google, so that your company is seen first when people search for key words related to your business.
2. Content Marketing – Creating and promoting information related to your business, product, or service. Blogs, whitepapers, and infographics all fall into this category.
3. Pay Per Click (PPC) – A method of increasing traffic to your website and other online content by paying an online publisher a small fee every time someone clicks on an ad you’ve created and displayed.
4. Affiliate Marketing – Paying commission to someone else in order to have your company, product, or service displayed on their website.
5. Marketing Automation – Software that allows you to automatically create repetitive content or analyze digital content such as eNewsletters, social media post scheduling, bulk emails, marketing campaign tracking, etc.
6. Email Marketing – The use of email as a way to send information to clients and potential clients.
7. Online Public Relations – Gaining online exposure to digital press (such as interviews in online blogs or other publications, online reviews of your company, product, or service, or receiving and engaging in comments on your website or social media posts)
8. Sponsored Content – Paying another company to discuss or promote content related to your product or service. The most common form of sponsored content is influencer marketing.
9. Social Media Marketing – Using social media channels to advertise, promote, or display your company, product, or service.

 

Social Media Marketing

As you can see, social media marketing is simply a facet aspect of a digital marketing strategy (albeit a very important one!). It’s an easy, inexpensive, and highly successful way of giving consumers the ability to learn more about your business and product, while simultaneously promoting engagement, which improves your brand and increases sales.

 

Benefits of using social media marketing as part of your digital marketing strategy include:

• Building brand awareness – using social media marketing to increase consumer engagement has been proven to increase brand awareness.
• Generating leads – by interacting with consumers who already have even a small vested interest in your company or brand (by following or liking you on social media), it’s easier to convert them to customers, repeat customers, and brand ambassadors.
• Building strong relationships with customers – a customer is much more likely to become a repeat customer if they have the capacity to interact with your company and/or other people that share interest in your product or service, something easily achieved through social media channels.
• Learning about your competitors – social media makes it an easy task to keep track of what your competitors are doing and what’s working for them (and what’s not!).

 

The most popular social media platforms, in order, are, Facebook (2.45 billion users), YouTube (1.9 billion users), Instagram (1 billion users), LinkedIn (645 million users), Twitter (with 335 million users), Snapchat (300 million users), Pinterest (250 million users), and if you already have a strong presence in these social media platforms and are looking to stay ahead of the curve, try expanding your social media marketing to Digg, Blogger, Reddit, Wikis, or Stumbledupon. Pro tip: Get to know where your audience is and focus your attention on those social media platforms first and foremost.

 

In summary, a great company, an incredible product, and amazing service are all fundamental to building a successful business, indeed, but being able to tell others about all those qualities is key to maintaining it, and a strong digital marketing strategy, which includes a thorough social media marketing approach, is an absolute must for a successful brand and business in today’s market and for today’s consumers.

 

Many businesses, large and small alike, don’t have the time or industry know-how to navigate this important aspect of having and maintaining a successful business in today’s market and rightly turn to the experts for help. Digital marketing companies, like Peppermint, have the training and experience to understand the ins and outs of implementing successful strategies that help you create and manage a digital marketing strategy, allowing you to rest easy knowing your business is in good hands while you focus on what you do best.

 

Peppermint is a creative and digital marketing company based in Estepona (Marbella, Málaga) with years of experience in strategy and planning, branding, graphic design, web design, social media marketing, digital marketing and much, much more. We’ve worked with local, national and international clients on a multitude of projects. Contact us today and find out how we can help shape your business.