Can a social media manager also be called a digital marketing manager? The answer is no because there is a conceptual difference between digital marketing and social media marketing.
More often than not, individuals use social media marketing and digital marketing interchangeably. While the two are closely related, social media marketing is one of the digital marketing channels.
Digital Marketing, on the other hand, is a critical marketing pillar that leverages the internet to connect with audiences through online channels. Therefore, mobile marketing, email marketing, SEO, PR, content marketing and social media marketing are a part of the digital marketing.
Let us look at both a little closer with examples.
What Consists of Digital Marketing?
To understand how digital marketing (many times referred to as online digital marketing & and nothing wrong with that) differs from social media marketing, you first need to know what digital marketing is; digital marketing is an umbrella term for different marketing tactics deployed in the digital world to achieve marketing goals.
Digital marketing uses various digital channels (media) to reach and communicate with the preferred target audience, improve brand visibility and increase sales. Now, this can take place online as well as offline. The 4 p’s of marketing – Product, Price, Promotion, Place and People stand true in the world of online digital marketing.
Digital marketing has some offline formats too, where the internet may not be required, which may include TV, Radio, Electronic billboards and SMS.
The more easily identifiable form of digital marketing and often called online digital marketing, is one which uses the Internet to reach and communicate with the target audience.
Examples of online digital marketing include:
- Social Media Marketing
- Email marketing
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- Affiliate / Publisher marketing
- Mobile Marketing
- Content Marketing
- Pay Per Click Advertising or google ads campaigns (PPC)
- Video Marketing
Digital marketers tailor a plan for each channel, and they may not always employ all of the aforementioned because it depends on the marketing plan, which includes budget, target market, brand positioning, target audience etc. To invest in the correct channels of digital marketing that work for your business, it’s best to save your time and take the help of a good digital marketing agency. This will avoid cash burn on experiments since you do not have the expertise in online digital marketing. Our team showcased the most recent trends in digital marketing to guide businesses and marketers.
What Consists Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing is a form of digital marketing. It uses social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Snapchat, Tiktok etc. to increase brand visibility and reach. Social media platforms help communicate with audiences and to establish a relationship with customers and increase sales.
Today social media is all about content. You must be using at least one of the social media platforms, be it Facebook to be touch with your friends and family, Instagram to share and consume exciting content or Twitter or even LinkedIn to network professionally and learn from other professionals. Content is the heart of social media and hence the need of marketing on these platforms. Today content is not just about the written word but fancy images (Gifs or carousels), photographs with captions, short videos (reels & youtube shorts) and much more. Social media marketing requires high-quality of content to,
1. grab the attention of the prospect
2. to engage the prospects to take further action.
This is where a content specialist comes to your aid. This person can be a social media marketing specialist too. They know the nitty-gritty of each social platform wand ill guide you on how best to craft your business’s message in line with the brand image and positions and suggest audio and visual aids to be used for success on the social media platform.
According to social media statistics posted on the popular content website hire content writer, social media is the preferred choice of digital users for customer service. This means that by using social media, brands and businesses have an opportunity to create long-lasting relationships with their current and prospective customers.
When you think of online digital marketing, you cannot ignore social media. A very interesting article by search engine journal lists the best social media platforms in the world in 2022 ranked by multiple metrics:
- Snapchat
- Twitch
- Youtube
- TikTok
- Quora
- Discord
- Tumblr
- Telegram
- Flickr
You may choose to use one or multiple social media channels for your business. Typically one would choose the most popular social media channels for your business, and it’s quite understandable; why settle for the second best? But each platform has a unique offering for its users, and only a specific type of content performs well on different social media platforms; Youtube, for example, is all about videos, whereas Linkedin if more images and text content. You will be surprised at the many ways social media is driving engagement in 2022. A specialist can guide you to the best solutions based on your marketing objectives and budgets. A social media marketing agency is the best choice to help you find the best course of action for social media success.
Key Differences Between Social Media Marketing & Digital Marketing
| Online Digital Marketing | Social Media Marketing |
| Is an umbrella term used for all online marketing. | This is one of the marketing channels under digital marketing. |
| Objectives are brand awareness, driving traffic, generate leads and sales. | The main focus is to increase visibility at low cost, audience engagement and build relationships. |
| A digital marketer can easily take over social media management. | Social media managers need additional skills to take on digital marketing tasks. |
Online Digital marketing and social media marketing should not be used interchangeably. While digital marketing can be seen as an entire book, social media marketing is just one chapter in that book. There is more on our online digital marketing blog; feel free to check now, or you can always return whenever you are ready to take a dive into the digital marketing world.
All the best!
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