At A Digital Media Company, we are one of the rare companies that offers advertising, digital, and social media marketing to our clients, depending on their needs. But as a small-business owner, how do you know what those needs are and where to best allocate your advertising budget to gain the most for your bottom line? In general, SEO maximizes your visibility on search engines, while social media is used to drive traffic to your web content throughout. So, the truth of most companies is that a good mixture of them is where you want to be. At the heart of it all rests quality digital media. If it sounds confusing, it can be…

What is Digital Media?

Another term that small businesses need to be familiar with is “digital media.” Digital media are videos and images that companies can use to foster their brand, build engagement with their audience, and heighten their visibility. The success of both your SEO and social media campaign comes down to one thing – the quality of your digital media. Digital marketing is how you use digital media to connect to people via their smartphones, digital devices, computers, and tablets.

Which is More Lucrative – SEO or SMM?

When it comes to allocating your budgeting dollars, it is important to know how you can best target your audience. SEO and SMM are both useful marketing tools; they work differently but can work together. 

Audience Reach

Both social media and SEO marketing are used to grab your audience’s attention. SEO tends to target specific topics and inquiries that your audience has, while SMM helps provide a wider net of information about your brand and company. Therefore, when you use them together, social media engagement rates and click-through-rate analysis can help you to determine who your audience is. That way, you can use the demographic information gained to formulate your content.

Content

Your content is how you connect the dots between your social media accounts and your website. SMM is meant to drive traffic to your website using the click-through function.

Measurement of Success

Although SMM is a different entity, the click-throughs achieved in the social media space do enhance your SEO rankings if done correctly. Click-throughs on your LinkedIn and TikTok posts impact your SEO campaign. When people see you and click through, that enhances your visitor rate and increases your website’s credibility in Google’s eyes.

So, What’s the Answer – Quality Digital Media?

There is no clear answer for companies across different industries and with different goals. The brand awareness that you can achieve through social media is critical, and if you don’t have a well-known brand, then it’s a top priority. On the other hand, if your goal is to be on the top ranking of an engine SERP, SEO is a must. In the end, it might not be an either-or situation, but rather, one of how best to integrate the two in a perfect balance.

What is the Difference Between SMM and SEO in Digital Marketing?

“Search engine optimization” is a term that is typically used under the search engine marketing cover. It is also lumped with PPC campaigns. In general, SEO includes content marketing, link building, website structure, and all the many technical assets of organic search engine rankings. Social media includes marketing that can be both paid and organic. Things like boosting a post or promoting a social media ad are useful tools for brand awareness and to enhance your SEL.

What Do SMM and SEO Have in Common?

Quality Digital Media

For both SMM and SEO, it is the quality of the content you put out there. You can reach a million viewers, but if your content isn’t engaging or does not add value, it will not grab attention. Content that is shared and liked will lead to better rankings and social media visibility, period.

Reach

When used in combination, SEO and SMM can target an audience that is in upwards of 4.3 billion via Google and 4.59 billion on social media.

Brand Building

The one thing that both SMM and SEO can do is to establish your brand as an authoritative voice, but only if you use informative, quality, and relative content to drive visibility and traffic to your site. 

Effort Made

If you use both appropriately, they can lead to an impressive rate of return and a lot of website traffic.

What are the Differences Between SEO and SMM?

Personalization 

Social media marketing tactics differ because they provide an immediate opportunity to engage with your audience directly. Speaking directly to the consumer and having real “communication” helps to build trust and loyalty

Costs

Social media ads tend to cost less than Google ads. However, the use of SEO for organic traffic requires less of a financial investment in the end.

Goals

While social media is about building brand awareness, SEO is all about gaining organic traffic. If you can drive traffic, you can increase your conversions.

Choices

Different individuals and viewers use different social media platforms and apps, while SEO primarily focuses on two major SEO giants, Bing and Google. 

Results

SEO might take longer to gain recognition and visibility, while social media marketing tends to grab your audience and build more quickly.

When You Should Focus on Search Engine Optimization

Your website is the catalyst through which all things flow. It is your literal go-to where people can find out what they need to know about your organization. SEO is an important tool that you need to incorporate into your marketing strategy. Paid ads are something that gets your audience more immediately versus slowly building over time. Ads help to grab your target audience more quickly, but they do cost money.

While SEO might take a while to build, it is a must for your website. Slow and steady does win the race. It is also a practice that takes very little as long as you have the basics of digital media quality and creativity. 

When Social Media Marketing is a Must

Social media marketing can not only grab the attention of millions of users, it does so more quickly without an expensive marketing budget. Unlike SEO PPC ads where you have to grab viewers who are searching already, social media is something that viewers see on their own while scrolling. That is why it is an excellent way to build your brand and a following that will help to increase brand visibility and favorability.

SMM is also a great way to decipher who your audience actually is. Because you aren’t targeting people who are already looking for your product or service, those who do respond tell you a lot about what you are looking for in targeted ads. When you can determine who your intended audience is, you can better use the Google EAT principle to market to them more appropriately. 

Conclusion – It’s All About Quality Digital Media

So although we get the question a lot about whether it is better to use social media marketing or social engine optimization, the truth is there is no right answer. It is a fine line to walk, and it’s also an ebb and flow. At some points, you might want to rely more heavily on social media marketing At others, on search engine optimization. The one certainty, however, is that you have to maintain your SEO and SMM efforts. 

It isn’t a one-and-done thing; it’s like chipping away continually in the right area to gain the visibility you need. At the heart of them both, however, rests the quality and creativity of your digital media. Without it, your ad campaign will fall flat and be a waste of your resources. At A Digital Media Company, we know how to create engaging content. That way, we can market your company in every way possible. Contact us today!