Social Media Management vs Advertising
Social media management, marketing, and advertising. You’ve probably heard these buzzwords around in the business and marketing world. But what is the main difference between them, and how do you not get caught paying for something that your business doesn’t really need?
The old DC Talk song said it best, “Some people gotta learn the hard way.” Well, we’re here today in the effort to not have you learn the hard way. Our job today is to help you choose the right service to get you the best ROI for your business. We’ll achieve this effort by equipping you with the best information possible to be able to differentiate between these different services. And yes, they are different services.
The first thing you need to understand is that you need to have a clear goal in mind when it comes to your marketing efforts. What exactly is your goal? Are you looking for more exposure online? Do you need someone to post on social media on your behalf to make you the authority in your industry? Do you want to keep your current following and list informed of upcoming events, changes, or more? Do you have a specific product that you’d like to drive direct sales for immediately? Defining your specific goals and not just saying, “bring in more money,” will help you and your digital marketing partner come up with the best plan of action that renders a positive ROI for both you and your partner. Think win-win.
So, after you’ve defined your specific goal, you’ll need to understand which social media service, if it’s social media you’re looking for, to go with. Below find the breakdown and differences between today’s popular buzzwords and finally understand the difference between social media management vs advertising.
Social Media Management
By definition, Social media management is the process of managing your online presence on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter by creating, publishing, and analyzing content you post. Managing social media also includes engaging and interacting with social media users
This process doesn’t necessarily mean that you Advertise online using this specific service. Many businesses get caught up thinking that because an agency is managing their social media, that they should also run ads for the same budget, and it’s simply not the case. This service has its own required set of skills, time, and effort involved that differs from creating an advertising campaign. By demanding your social media manager to run ads for you with the same budget is not thinking win-win.
Social media management should be used by businesses who want their social media presence to be felt by current and potential followers. Businesses work with their social media managers by creating awesome content that attracts the audience. A social media manager’s job includes researching current trends, news, acquiring graphics, posting to social channels, and interacting with the audience. Business owners should trust that social media managers know what’s best for their content when it comes to imagery, messaging, and placement.
Social Media Advertising
Unlike management, social media advertising is another beast of its own. By definition, Social media advertising is a category of digital advertising that places ads on social networking sites. It has one of two purposes: branding or response.
Our goal with social media advertising is to place ads on specific platforms with the goal of driving traffic to either your website or a contact form to capture a potential customer’s information. We achieve this by coming up with a campaign around a specific product or service. Once we have the campaign defined, we’ll then create content that will be placed on your ad with a creative copy and call to action.
Many disciplines and techniques are required to create profitable campaigns and advertisements, from research, copywriting, graphic design, video production, website design, coding, to project management. Because all this is involved, it has its own focus as a service. That being said, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be stacked with other services, because it certainly can; it just can’t be assumed that because one service is being provided that another one that takes more effort should be provided at the same time unless purchasing an enterprise type of service.
Social Media Management vs Advertising Conclusion
Having a digital marketing partner can be a huge advantage that you have over your competition. Understanding what your digital marketer is doing is an even greater advantage when it comes to having a win-win mentality and getting the best ROI for your business both financially and awareness-wise.
It could be intimidating when you think about having to understand which services are which. But understanding the basics could really help your business stand out in the marketplace.
If you’d like to learn more about social media management or advertising, check out our services on social media and drop us a line!