Social Media Management vs. Social Media Marketing

Social Media Management vs. Social Media Marketing

The easiest way to understand the difference between Social Media Management and Social Media Marketing is to understand the difference between brand awareness and hot leads.

Social Media Management:

Social Media Management is brand awareness. You have to build and post content constantly. You have to engage with your community on a daily basis. If you continually work on great content there will be an increase in followers as well as engagement.
Now that does not happen overnight, it happens over a longer period of time. The rewards and the benefits are great, but it's long-term strategy. 

When you start Social Media Management, in the first 3 - 6 months, you will see a steady increase in followers, and as people get used to you, trusting you (because of your consistent presence on Facebook) there will also be an increase in engagement.

The algorithm for each social platform works in a different way. Let's take Facebook as an example. A core factor that affects the rankings of a post is its relevancy score, whereas on YouTube the total watch time of the video per session decides whether a video enters a ‘Recommended Video’ section or not.

Therefore, to increase traffic with Social Media Management is to post quality content that is informative, inspiring and entertaining and most of all consistent for a longer period of time.

Social Media Marketing:

With Social Media Marketing, you use a completely different strategy to pick certain demographics and target very specific audiences. 
Social Media Marketing targets (by means of content such as blogs, guides, competitions etc.) your specific client, and encourages them to learn more about your product/services through a sales funnel. 

What makes this different? The customer becomes a "HOT LEAD" because, by the time you contact them, they know who you are, what you offer and that you are the best in your field! The sale is done and dusted!

Social Media Marketing can get your business visible within a day, which will drive results but it comes at a higher cost.

So now that you have a better understanding of Social Media Management vs. Social Media Marketing, the question is: Which One is Better?

Well, it is important to invest in both. You want to build brand awareness and engage with your followers in order to establish social proof.
You also want to create an awareness with targeted paid ads that will drive traffic to your page, and in return, your sales will increase.

Perhaps a more important question to ask...
"How soon do you want results and an increase in sales?"

We have yet to come across a business owner that is not interested in generating more sales.
With the right Social Media Marketing, you will be able to get a much faster result and a measurable Return on Investment.
But simply investing money on paid social ads will do no good; your ad should be worthy and deserving of the "click," it should be interesting, relatable and informative.

The Return Of Investment of your paid social ads largely depends on how entertaining the ads are. To make the most of your Social Media Marketing budget, ensure your ads have the right call-to-action buttons with a link to your landing page. 

Here are some major benefits on Social Media Marketing:

Creating Brand Awareness In a Short Time

Most start-ups or even some established businesses do not have a huge following on any Social Media Platforms. Use a specific campaign to grab eyeballs in a short period of time and turn their attention to your page.

Drive Instant Traffic To Your Page:

Unlike Social Media Management, paid social ads instantly deliver results. The moment your ad goes live on social channels, you will get to see a large number of visitors on your web pages. Use paid adverts to make a big announcement or when launching a new product or service.

Targeting a Specific Audience Segment:

Think about the Social Media Realm as a massive dam with lots of different fish... You are looking for a very specific catch. 
With optimized paid social ads, you can target a specific group of people based on their demographic or social details.
This is like catching the right fish with the perfect bait.

Limited Time Factor:

A social media user needs to know about your special or limited time offer before it expires. Posting such ads on your social pages and expecting it to reach people organically will do you no good if a follower stumbles upon it after it has expired. It is an absolute must to go for paid social adverts if you are marketing products or services with an expiration date.

You Are In Control:

Setting up campaigns means that you can carefully select your audiences with certain behaviours and demographics. This allows you to reach the right people in the right area for your business. You are in control when it comes to setting up a daily spend limit so that you don't go over budget.

Let's Wrap up.

Many businesses are realising the importance of, 1: Having a presence on Social Media to increase brand awareness and, 2: To use these platforms to generate sales.

For this reason, there is a continued emphasis on finding and hiring Social Media Marketing Companies who can create consistent streams of quality content and market to the right audiences.

The reality is that free social media traffic is getting a lot harder to get.
Just by posting and promoting similar content on every social platform is not going to cut it any longer. The smartest companies are sourcing out their Social Media Marketing to Companies who know how to target the right audience for their brands across Social Media Platforms.

Social Media Marketing is one of the fastest ways to grow your Business, but you can make your advertising budget go even further with help from the pros at Joey Street Creative Digital Agency. Book a FREE Strategy Call Session