Key Difference – Digital Marketing vs Social Media Marketing
The difference between digital marketing and social media marketing is simple. Social media marketing is part of the overall broad spectrum of digital marketing. Social media marketing alone does not make up digital marketing as a lot of people assume. Digital marketing has many sub-sections. The key difference between these two concepts is that, digital marketing utilizes all available digital channels for communicating with stakeholders related to promotion and awareness creation for products & services, whereas social media marketing is any digital platform that connects people and assists in exchange of information. For better understanding, we will first evaluate each, the digital marketing and the social media marketing, individually.
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing can be defined as “Utilizing all available digital channels for communicating with stakeholders related to promotion and awareness creation for products & services”. Digital marketing is an evolving subject due to fast-paced technological advances. The important sub-clusters of digital marketing are:
Internet marketing:
The popular internet marketing channels are content marketing using websites, social media marketing, search engine marketing, email marketing, and online banner advertising.
Non-internet digital channels:
The popular non-internet digital channels are mobile marketing (SMS, MMS), digital billboards, and television.
The medium to use depends on various factors such as the nature of product or service you wish to promote, the brand perception, audience, etc. For example, to promote luxury condominiums, direct marketing coupled with the website will be the most suitable solution as detailed facts are important.
What is Social Media Marketing?
Social media has become part of human life in urban cultures around the world. It’s an integral and important part of digital marketing. Popular social media channels are Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Pinterest, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn. These media platforms have revolutionized socializing. Further, it has made it inroads in communication and shopping. Social media marketing can be defined as any digital platform that connects people and assists in the exchange of information.
The advantages of using social media marketing are:
• Faster communication
The communication via social media is instant, and if the content is attractive, it will spread viral such as the ice bucket challenge. Due to the use of the smartphone, the message is instantly received. Further, feedback from recipients is also instant.
• Cost effective
Compared to traditional marketing tools such as newspapers, magazines, and outdoor billboards, the social media marketing is less expensive. Social media can be engaged as a free medium and paid channels. The fee-based modes are paid advertisements, advert, and target marketing, which can increase the effectiveness of the campaign. A proper campaign can reap more benefits than traditional marketing models.
• Social trend
Social media is the current trend among the internet savvy population. So, it cannot be ignored. If an organization wants to stay close to their customers, they should have their profiles in social media. More and more firms are realizing this point and moving to social media platforms.
• Reach and tracing
The reach of social media is growing each day. If a firm can secure a large follower base, their promotional messages can be delivered to their followers instantly. Further, the communication can be retrieved by the follower as well as the communicator at any given time. Also, the number of recipients can be traced, unlike in television or printed advertisements.
What is the difference between Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing?
Now we will look at the differences between digital marketing and social media marketing. As already indicated it should not be forgotten that social media marketing is a part of digital marketing. However, if we compare them we can find few differences as below:
Definition of Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing
Social Media Marketing: Social media marketing can be defined as any digital platform that connects people and assists in the exchange of information.
Digital Marketing: Digital marketing can be defined as utilizing all available digital channels for communicating with stakeholders related to promotion and awareness creation for products & services.
Functions and characteristics of Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing
Boundary
Social Media Marketing: Social media has a limited boundary named the internet. It needs the internet to function, and the internet restricts its reach.
Digital Marketing: Digital marketing has a broad identity. It can reach online and offline audiences and is not limited by the boundary of the internet.
Usability of Components
Social Media Marketing: Social media marketing campaign can include only social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, etc.
Digital Marketing: Digital marketing campaign can include more components of digital platforms which may provide larger benefits for the campaign.
Content Marketing
Social Media Marketing: Social media marketing highly depends on the content of information, to be effective and to penetrate the audience.
Digital Marketing: Digital marketing is not strongly dependent on content. In digital marketing, firms can concentrate completely on banners for promotion.
If the differences are correctly understood, the organizations can select the most appropriate tools in accordance with their campaign. Undoubtedly, digital marketing is the way forward for marketing communication. It will gain more ground in the times ahead. Social media will play an important part in this transformation.
Image Courtesy : “The social media and the power to your business” by Henripontes (CC BY-SA 3.0) via wickimedia
