People often confuse social media with digital marketing, and I don’t blame them. It is kind of tricky & it’s really easy to fall into that trap. Since many people confuse both it is only natural to misuse them. Chances that you have heard about social media and digital marketing are pretty high, especially if you own a business. So let’s dissect into this & know the exact difference between the two. Shall we?
Digital marketing is the general headline under which lies social media, among many other tactics.
Digital marketing is a way to promote & build awareness of your brand or product/service via digital channels. You can implement it through one of these or both of them:
- Online, like E-mail marketing, online advertising, and Social Media.
- Offline like TV, Radio, SMS, digital billboards.
Perhaps the most popular and used social media platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Snapchat, but these are by no means the only ones out there. So digital marketing involves marketing on every digital platform. Taking advantage of the huge hype of social media to perfect digital marketing is absolutely critical, as it is the key to every business’s success. It grants you some personal relationship with the customers. Let’s think of it as putting a face to your business making it more agreeable for people to get attached to your brand in the fastest way possible.
However, having a strategic digital marketing plan is different from doing marketing on social media. Strategic digital marketing is a long process that needs thorough planning to achieve a set of organizational goals.
So, with an expanding fan base, simple planned posts on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter you could spread a message worldwide within seconds. It is most definitely the fastest way to promote your business and build a reputation for your brand. It is worthy of mentioning that social media is also good for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO attracts more traffic to your websites & this grants you more chances in actually promoting your brand.
Below are some digital marketing management tools that support social media marketing:
- AgoraPulse: it is a tool that enables businesses to manage all their social network profiles on social networks like: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. This tool makes it easier to engage with followers and reach new customers and audiences. One could simply publish content, schedule posts on Twitter and Facebook, etc. all through Agorpulse. Also, it helps users discover brand influencers and detect new opportunities to get moving with their business.
- HootSuite: it’s a social media management tool that allows users to schedule posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and other platforms from HootSuite. Users can utilize and analyze marketing campaigns across all social networks without having to log in on each social network separately.
- MavSocial: it is a social media management tool that supports seven different platforms, including some Chinese ones. What’s appealing about this tool is its digital media library that enables one to store all videos, images, and audio files. This digital media library allows you to upload things on social media so easily.
You might ask how many ways are there for social media marketing?
Generally speaking, there are two ways to carry out social media marketing campaigns:
- Free Campaigns: it is based on attracting new followers, and fan base that’s through creating engaging, entertaining and informative genuine content, regularly engaging with followers will grant you the upper hand over your competitors
- Paid Advertising: advertising products and services using Facebook ads, sponsoring Instagram posts. To achieve great results, businesses need strategic planning and keen knowledge of Ads manager software.
You must be wondering whether or not this social media marketing actually works. Well, it works! And with the right marketing agency, you will be able to stand out from the crowd.
It is crucial to know and consider your options when it comes to marketing your business. When you know the different tools that you can utilize, you’ll be able to choose the best one to use. Whatever the way you choose to do your marketing, you’ll surely need action. You have to answer a set of questions to get a good grip on it. Ask yourself what are you aiming for in terms of results, how do you think you’ll be able to get there and how much money are you willing to invest, etc.
In essence, digital marketing and social media marketing are crucial to today’s business success. It is the only way a business can expand rapidly and get the exposure it needs to build a solid fan base.