Digital Marketing Vs Social Media Marketing – All You Need To Know

Digital Marketing Vs Social Media Marketing

Introduction:

The world is moving at a pretty fast speed so it was only a matter of time before we were destined to arrive at this juncture – a common point with two roads crisscrossing ahead, one said social media marketing and the other said digital marketing. Even Robert Frost didn’t know which road to take for the longest time.

But as a marketer in 2022, you don’t have to worry because we are here to tell you more about the two roads and who said you could take only one road? So it’s 2022, and we love ambition – take both roads and attain success in the world of online marketing.

Keep reading to find out more on the same.

Digital Marketing Vs Social Media Marketing Differences:

Instead of defining what each form of marketing stands for and what are the components of each form, simply scroll down and compare the differences side by side for a better understanding of the two forms.

1. Definition And Goals:

Digital Marketing refers to employing multiple digital channels for promoting products or services of one or multiple businesses. In this form of marketing, brands try to attain a few specific goals like,

  • Increase profits and sales
  • Build brand awareness
  • Build relationships with the ideal target audience
  • Create value
  • Promote the brand’s services or products

Social media marketing, on the other hand, specifically employs social networking platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and the rest for promoting the services and products of one or more brands. In this form of marketing, brands try to attain specific goals like,

  • Raise brand awareness through social media platforms.
  • Run successful ad campaigns and multiply the return on investment.
  • Collaborate with other brands, influencers, and experts to create value and content.
  • Increase website traffic, leads, and direct social media sales.
  • Build a community.

2. Role Played By Content:

Content is king, and we can’t get enough of it, especially when marketing heavily depends on it. But here’s the difference between digital and social media marketing. In the case of social media marketing specifically, content perhaps plays the biggest role.

In fact, one of the biggest mistakes in social media marketing that brands keep making is how the focus is always on creating sale-specific or product-specific content. Instead, brands that use social media platforms for creating a community and content that educates or solves a problem have seen massive success, both engagement-wise and commercially.

In the case of digital marketing, however, you need not always tell a story. Instead, digital marketing provides you with the freedom to employ a vast number of techniques and platforms. So if you are promoting a particular product or service on television or billboards, the content has to be sale-specific – there are no limitations as a result. Your content need not tell a story every time.

3. Channels

The major difference between digital marketing and social media marketing is in terms of what channels each form of marketing is using. The world of digital marketing is more liberating in terms of channels that can be used. In fact, the essential channels used in digital marketing strategies to increase sales are as follows,

  • Online advertising,
  • SMS marketing,
  • Television,
  • Billboards,
  • Web banners,
  • Search engine rank pages, and
  • Many more.

In the case of social media marketing, naturally, the channels of marketing are a little limited as compared to the same for digital marketing. The channels that you can use for social media marketing are social networking sites like,

  • Facebook,
  • Instagram,
  • LinkedIn,
  • Pinterest,
  • Twitter,
  • Snapchat,
  • WhatsApp,
  • Telegram, and
  • Many more.

Another important observation in this regard is that although the number of channels on social media is relatively limited, that does not mean that there are no sub-niches of the same. The different types of social media marketing are as follows,

  • Affiliate marketing,
  • Influencer marketing,
  • Content marketing,
  • Paid marketing, and the like.

Wrapping Up:

The importance of both social media and digital marketing is pretty relevant, especially in a world more attuned to a digital outlook. Thus, the faster you use digital marketing to build a strong brand, the better for your brand. And don’t forget to incorporate a crazy social media marketing strategy for the same.

Instead of choosing between both forms of marketing, you can always incorporate both in your planning and build a killer strategy in the process.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *