Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing – What's the Difference?

Digital Marketing vs Social Media Marketing 

Digital marketing and social media marketing are not reciprocal terms. They don’t mean the same thing.  Their distinction, however, is not exactly a clear-cut line. 

The simple answer is this: Social media marketing is part of digital marketing. It’s one channel, among the many channels, of the digital marketing process. Social media marketing can stand alone or act as part of a larger marketing strategy. 

Businesses who use social media as their only marketing channel are engaging in digital marketing. Conversely, businesses who do not use social media but employ other forms of online marketing are also engaging in digital marketing. 

Is Social Media Marketing Enough? 

There’s no doubt, social media marketing has a lower entry point. For a new business, social media marketing is an easy place to start.   You can quickly get your company's name in front of potential customers and begin engaging with them almost immediately.  It also doesn’t require a ton of content creation, especially in the beginning. 

But as your business grows, you may find social media marketing is just not enough.  You’ll encounter certain limitations. 

For example, social media isn’t helping you rank in search engines. That means you’re missing out on a huge chunk of potential customers that are searching for your services on Google.  Additionally, social media marketing limits you to the social media platform you’re using. You have no control over how the platform works, the updates made to the platform, or what happens with the content you add to the platform. 

Building a Digital Marketing Strategy 

Constructing a holistic digital marketing plan will give your business its best chance for growth and allow you more control and flexibility with how your marketing is handled. 

The process can be as simple or as complex as you have the appetite (and the budget) to handle. Perhaps the most basic step is building a website for your business and implementing SEO strategies. In this scenario, you can take advantage of search engine traffic alongside your social media traffic. 

Conclusion

Remember, social media marketing is just one part of digital marketing as a whole. You can certainly limit your business to social media marketing alone, but doing so will ultimately limit your reach and cost you customers. 



Consider the growth your business could experience with a complete digital marketing plan working in the background.   

Want to learn more about how to build a complete digital marketing plan for your local business? Contact the local digital marketing experts at Locallogy.