Social Media vs Other Digital Marketing Techniques, Pros and Cons

Technology has risen to a great extent in every nook and corner of the world, and so is the digital presence. Digital marketing strategies have helped many companies to elevate their online presence, brand image, customer loyalty, and, ultimately, sales. However, social media marketing is gaining more prominence than other digital marketing techniques. The main reason is that digital consumers are more fond of using social media platforms than other digital marketing forums. As a result, millions of people can be targeted within no time due to its rising popularity.

Here, we will discuss the pros and cons of social media marketing and other digital marketing techniques for your enlightenment. So that you can do what works for you as per individual needs and requirements, let's have a closer look into the following details.

Social Media Marketing Technology

Social Media Marketing has numerous benefits for businesses, especially those who want to promote their brand. Some of the top benefits include:

PROS

• Measure Success Rate With Analytics

Social Media Marketing helps you measure success rate with analytics. It does this better than other digital marketing platforms and allows you to track the performance of every campaign efficiently.

• Offers A High Conversion Rate

SMM increases the online visibility of your brand. With this increased visibility, you have more opportunities for conversion. With a humanization factor, SMM helps give you a more favorable impression of your brand or business in the customer's eyes.

• Increase Trustworthiness And Recognition

Regular posting on social media with organic content allows companies to interact with their customers regularly. This, in turn, helps build your brand's recognition and gain customers' trust.

• Helps In Creating Organic Content

Organic content refers to the free content that marketers use with their customers. Social Media allows you to interact with your customers in a novel way, blog posts, sharing stories, video content, memes, or photos. The ability to post this organic content for free readily develops your brand recognition with your potential audience.

• Offers Direct Connection With Customers

Social Media Marketing helps build brand loyalty, especially when communicated well. When you master how to communicate with your customers, you can connect with them and feel enchanted. A study shows that around 90% of customers are more prone to buy from brands they follow on social media.

CONS

Though Social Media Marketing has ample benefits, it has some cons, especially in today's digitalized world. For instance:

• It Is Time-Consuming

SMM is time-consuming, and to achieve a customer's loyalty towards your brand; you need to stay active for most of the day. A study confirmed that up to 64% of Social Media Marketing spend at least 6 hours on social media platforms to gain customers' interest. Moreover, the new businesses find it quite challenging to achieve customers' interest even while spending their whole day on social media.

• You Need To Be Active

Along with time issues, you must stay active or engaged every time. You also need to monitor your marketing efforts. Another is that you need to be updated so that you do not fall behind your competitors. It would help if you also had qualified personnel to manage your account. Otherwise, you need to train them or train yourself to make a difference.

• Negative Comments Can Distract Loyal Customers

Being active in Social Media means exposing yourself or your brand to everyone. And in doing so, you might come across substantial negative feedback or anyone who wants to degrade you in front of people for no reason. You need to be open-minded if you choose social media for digital marketing, as everyone can see the comments you receive. You'll have little to no control in minimizing the effects.

• Limited To Social Media Platforms Only

When you do social media marketing, you get restricted to the social media platforms only. Unlike SEO or SEM, which are more flexible, social media marketing can only be done via social media platforms. Moreover, the different social media platforms require different strategies to prosper. In doing so, you may waste much time or money without any success guarantee. But if you know how to gain your competitive advantage over other brands, this can be fixed, and you can gain ample benefits in return.

Other Digital Marketing Techniques:

Blogs, email marketing, internet advertising, web content, videos, search engine optimization, affiliate advertising, mobile marketing, pay-per-click, etc., are all digital marketing tactics to reach your targeted audience.

PROS

Like social media marketing, these digital marketing techniques have their respective pros and cons. For instance:

• Multiple Channels

Digital marketing techniques have numerous offline and online channels to advertise brands, for instance, email marketing, SEO, SEM, digital billboards, radio, SMS, etc. Rather than only focusing on online advertising platforms, unlike SMM, the other forms of digital marketing give users a variety of online and offline marketing forums to advertise their brands.  

• Trackable Results

The results of your customer reach can be tracked with ease. However, you need to master the metrics to gain valuable insights.

• Offers Personalization

Digital marketing also offers personalization and is specifically beneficial when your customer database is linked to the website. Whenever someone buys from your site, you can update the customer profile as per his website visits and buying records, and you can market your brand efficiently afterward. 

• Low Cost

Digital marketing is a cost-effective way to target a potential audience. However, it also demands a well-targeted digital marketing campaign to gain the best results.  

CONS

• Intensive Skills Are Required

The tools, trends, and platforms of digital marketing are constantly changing. Therefore, you must train your staff correctly with updated knowledge and tactics. Intensive skills are required to be successful on digital marketing platforms.  

• There Is High Competition

Though digital marketing allows you to reach out to people globally, it also brings you up against global competition. So, it would help if you made a difference by standing against all odds to grab the users’ attention.  

• Security And Privacy Issues Also Exist

You need to be cautious with the data protection and privacy rules. Several digital marketers are using customer data, and there is legal consideration that needs to be dealt with care. 

• It Can Lead To Content Or Email Overload

Email marketing, a form of digital marketing, mostly irritates users. They are more likely to delete the promotional emails because of an overload, and all your effort can get wasted.  

Digital marketing strategies have helped many companies to elevate their online presence, brand image, customer loyalty, and, ultimately, sales. However, social media marketing is gaining more prominence than other digital marketing techniques.

Social Media vs. Other Forms of Digital Marketing (Which One Is Better?)

Social media marketing is a part of digital marketing but offers a great connection with people. Though both have their relevant advantages and disadvantages, many people use social media nowadays. Therefore, SMM must be the central part of your marketing process. But also, you shouldn’t ignore other digital marketing platforms for better results.  

Conclusion

There is no doubt that all digital marketing techniques help in brand development, have precise targeting and reach, increase customer loyalty and engagement, generate consistent leads, are cost-effective, and much more. However, social media marketing helps you to gain valuable insights from the customers’ perspectives and has become the most influential virtual space for both customers and digital marketers. Whether it is social media marketing or other digital marketing techniques, both can benefit your company. Whichever you choose, make sure it aligns well with your company’s goals and strategy.