Digital Advertising vs Social Media Marketing: 4 Key Differences
The goals of both digital advertising and social media marketing are, in the end, the same: they’re there to help grow your business and improve your bottom line.
However, how and where they work to achieve those objectives can vary significantly. While it’s easy to think of digital advertising and social media marketing as essentially the same thing, there are key differences to be aware of.
In this post, we’ll outline everything you need to know about the differences between digital advertising vs social media marketing, including their goals, how the success of each is measured, and how they strengthen your brand. And remember — if you’re eager to grow the digital profile of your business through any type of digital marketing, then don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team here at May Media.
1. Strategy Focus
As we mentioned above, the objective of digital advertising and social media marketing is to ultimately grow your brand, but they do so in different ways.
In simple terms, you can think of digital advertising as a short-term, capital-intensive strategy that can yield instant results. On the other hand, social media marketing is more of a long-term strategy.
You might run a digital advertising campaign for a week and get results. Your social media strategy will be ongoing, and will be less of an “instant hit.” Social media marketing is more of a slow burner.
With that said, it’s best not to fall into the trap of thinking that digital advertising is better because it’s quicker. On a long-term basis, social media marketing can be just as effective, if not more so.
There’s more that separates the strategy behind digital advertising and social media marketing than just timescales. They differ, generally, in how they benefit the business. Digital advertising is more sales-driven, functioning as a prompt to get the audience to take action. Social media marketing is more about building community; you’ll build an audience who may become customers later on. That is beginning to change, however, with the implementation of tools that help drive sales — more than 15% of Americans make purchases through social media every single month.
2. Performance Metrics
Digital advertising and social media marketing don’t just differ in how they appeal to customers. They’re also measured in different ways.
All digital marketing campaigns need metrics to measure effectiveness. One key metric that both methods share is the number of people who see the content. A digital advertising campaign can’t be successful if no one sees the ads; similarly, even the greatest social media content will be ineffective if it doesn’t appear on anyone’s feed.
There’s another metric that’s more important than the number of eyeballs that see the advertisement/content, too. And that’s the number of people who see the ad/content and do something.
For digital advertising, that’s the ‘conversion rate.’ That’s just another way of saying the number (or percentage) of people who did the thing that you wanted them to do. For instance, let’s say you run an advertisement campaign to get people to sign up for your email newsletter. The conversion rate is determined by the percentage of people who signed up against the number of people who saw the ad.
The equivalent for social media marketing is ‘engagement rate.’ That is, the number of people who saw a post and then did something (liked, shared, commented).
Other key metrics for digital advertising include:
- Click-Through Rate: That’s the percentage of people who click your ad.
- Return on Investment: The ROI is determined by the cost of the campaign versus how much it earned.
- Cost Per Acquisition: The overall cost of acquiring a new customer via the campaign.
For social media marketing, the key metrics are:
- Follower Growth Rate: How many followers were gained (or lost) during a specific period.
- Reach and Impressions: How many people saw the post, and how many times it has been shown.
- Social Media Sentiment: Indicates how the audience interacted with a campaign (positive, negative, neutral).
3. Paid Advertising vs Organic Reach
Both digital advertising and social media marketing can draw new customers through paid and organic methods.
First, let’s focus on what we mean by paid advertising and organic reach. The clue is in the name. Paid is when you spend money for exposure. Organic is when you build brand awareness “naturally.”
In digital advertising, that ‘paid’ advertising would be something like a PPC campaign, where you pay Google (and other search engines) to advertise your brand at the top of the results page. An example of organic digital advertising would be SEO marketing. If your website’s SEO credentials are robust enough, then your website will appear towards the top of the results page without having to pay Google.
Organic reach is common in social media marketing. If your content is good enough, then people will see it — and like it! But you can also pay to promote your posts on Instagram, Facebook, and so forth. Organic reach is generally considered “better,” but ultimately, whatever works!
4. Brand Engagement
Finally, digital advertising and social media marketing differ in how they help to build brand awareness and drive engagement.
Both can be utilized to build brand awareness effectively (that is, increase the number of people who know about your brand). They foster engagement in different ways, however. Digital advertising is mostly a one-way street whereby you send a message to your target audience without opening the door to hear what they have to say. Social media marketing is a two-way street; to be effective, brands must continually engage with their customers. Digital advertising is akin to talking into a megaphone; social media marketing is more like sitting down with your customers over a cup of coffee.
Get In Touch With May Media Today
Need help growing your business online? Let the expert team here at May Media help you. With extensive experience in a wide range of marketing approaches, including media planning, we’re confident we have what it takes to elevate your brand’s digital presence.
