5 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing Has To Be Part Of Any Digital Media Marketing Strategy

People often get confused between social media marketing and digital media marketing. It's simple. Social media marketing is part of digital media marketing. In fact, in the last couple of years, social media marketing has become a major part of every digital media marketing strategist's toolbox.

But first, let's have a look at the definitions of digital and social media marketing.

What is digital media marketing?

According to the Financial Times Lexicon, Digital media marketing is "the marketing of products or services using digital channels to reach consumers. The key objective is to promote brands through various forms of digital media." In other words, digital media marketing encompasses all forms of online marketing. It is important to note that most companies still employ a combination of online and offline marketing; with the majority of companies utilizing online marketing more than offline marketing as time moves forward.

What is social media marketing?

Social media marketing, on the other hand, is a term that refers to "the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media sites." We all know that in recent times, the number of users using social media marketing platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, amongst others, has grown, and is growing exponentially. Facebook alone boasts over 1,5 Billion users worldwide.

These numbers alone make a compelling argument as to why social media marketing is a critical part of all digital marketing strategies. There is, however, more than onereason why social media marketing is vital to any marketing strategy. Here are a few more reasons:

• Spread the word about new products and promotions: Because there are so many people on social media, it is possibly the fastest way to alert consumers to your company’s new products and brands.
• Search Engine Optimization: Social media platforms, such as Facebook, are now being counted by search engines (especially Google) as ranking factors when indexing your company’s website. The whole idea, and sole purpose, behind digital media marketing is to ensure that your company ranks first on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
• Social media is trending: Everyone is on social media. Social media’s influence far outranks any other means of influencing people to purchase your company’s products and brands. In fact, companies are now looking at famous personalities’ social media profiles when choosing who to represent their brands.
• Interactive interface: Social media is the best way to interact with your consumers. You can use it to find out what they think of your current products, to garner opinions on future product development, and as a way to find out what people think of your company’s customer service. This interaction is also real-time. You can discuss issues and concerns with your consumers at the time that they raise them.

Final Thoughts

From the above it is obvious that every company, from large corporations to small one-man businesses, needs to ensure that they have a robust social media marketing component to their digital media marketing strategy.