Social Media Marketing (SMM) vs. Search Engine Marketing (SEM): Why Your Brand Needs Both

Deciding on which digital marketing strategy to implement in your business can be challenging, especially considering there are always solid statistics proving any strategies are effective.?

For instance, research by the ODM Group claims that 74% of social media users use social media to make buying decisions.

Conversely, Market Splash claims that leads generated by search engines usually exhibit a close rate of 14.6%, indicating the percentage of leads that ultimately convert into customers.

Such stats conclude that both strategies can be effective if implemented well. But should you implement both in your business?

Well, yes, if you've got the budget.

If not, you'll need to choose the best for your brand.

Read this post to help decide your brand's best digital marketing strategy. You'll also learn why SEM and SMM make the perfect business strategy.?

What is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing involves promoting your business's products and services on social platforms. You can adopt SMM if you want to.

• Reach a larger audience.
• Drive traffic to your website.
• Engage with potential customers.

Your business goals are the key to determining the best social media site to promote your products and services. For example, LinkedIn will be ideal for networking with professionals. On the other hand, Facebook will be great if you want to grow your follower base.?

After identifying your top social media platform, you must understand your targeted audience's behavior, demographics, interests, location, and connection. Such information will help you create content relevant to only a specific group.

Social media marketing can be subdivided into two categories: organic and paid.

• Organic marketing involves creating valuable blog posts, images, infographics, and other types of content.?
• Paid marketing refers to creating sponsored ads to increase the visibility of your products and services. Influencer marketing, sponsored posts, video ads, and display ads are all part of paid SMM.

What is Search Engine Marketing?

Search engine marketing uses paid advertising on search engines such as Google and Bing to drive targeted traffic to a website and boost conversions and sales.

It involves placing social ads on search engines and paying per click (PPC), a thousand impressions (PPM), or per action (PPA) made on the ad.

Factors to leverage in social media marketing include location, search query, and behavior.

Google Ads is a popular SEM type where advertisers bid on specific keywords and display their ads in search results. 80% of global brands use Google Ads for their PPC marketing.

Note: While SEO isn't the same as SEM. SEO is only a subset of SEM. You must first do keyword research (SEO) to create relevant sponsored ads for your business.

What's The Main Difference Between SEM and SMM?

In SMM, you know what your potential market looks like, what interests your target audience and where they might be.

However, in SEM, you only know the market is interested in your products or services because they searched for a keyword related to your brand. You are unaware of their attributes. Therefore, you need to:

• Convince them that your brand is the right choice to satisfy their needs.
• Find out if they fit the description of your targeted customers.

How SMM is Better Than SEM

• More engagement after every click: When someone likes or tags your business page or mentions your Twitter handle, their followers or connections will see them. Such a quick action will help others discover your business and interact with it if it can help them solve their issues.
• Respond to criticism in real time: Responsive customer support is one of the critical factors customers are looking for before interacting with your products and services. However, unlike SEM, social media marketing allows you to respond to customers' complaints and compliments in real-time. Engaging with your customers' comments builds loyalty and creates a deeper relationship with them.

How SEM is Better Than SMM

• Increased visibility for your business: You'll first Google "Nike if you want to buy a Nike shoe. While I can browse social media sites for Nike shoes, using search engines makes the work easier and faster. It also ensures you don't land on scam sites.
• Better insights with Google Analytics: Through analytics systems, you can gain a better understanding of what your customers want, what they visit on your site, and where they're coming from. This information can be vital to providing a good experience for your site visitors and finding new customers.

How to Determine Which Digital Marketing Strategy is Right for Your Business

Below are factors to consider in determining whether your brand needs SEM or SMM.

• Targeting: Both digital marketing strategies reach a specific audience. However, SMM provides precise targeting strategies depending on interests, behaviors, and demographics. SEM, on the other hand, is limited to targeting based on search queries. Therefore, SMM can be more cost-effective as a brand can reach a specific audience with a lower budget.
• Competition: SEM can be expensive, especially in highly competitive industries where brands bid on popular keywords to gain top placements. Conversely, SMM can be more cost-effective, as brands can target niche audiences with less competition.
• Goals: SMM may be more cost-effective if your brand aims to drive traffic to your site or increase brand awareness. Using SMM can help you reach a larger, targeted audience at a lower cost. However, SEM would be ideal if you aim to generate leads, as it can drive highly targeted traffic to a specific product or service.
• Ad formats: SMM and SEM provide various ad formats. They include text ads, display ads, and video ads. However, SMM comprises more diverse ad formats, including reels, stories, and live videos, which tend to be more engaging. They are also cost-effective in generating brand awareness.

Why SEM and SMM Make a Successful Business Strategy

While SEM and SMM function independently, they are most productive when they operate together. Search engine marketing will help position your brand at the top of search results. On the other hand, social media marketing fosters community and builds trust. Therefore, implementing both strategies in your business could grow your brand exponentially.

Another reason you may need to invest in both digital marketing strategies is because you don't want to have all your eggs in one basket. Imagine if a Panda update hit all your Google traffic. If you don't have any other source of traffic, then you will be in serious trouble.

So, consider investing in both strategies. If one approach starts failing, you could double your efforts on the other; thus, you won't lose all your traffic.

If you already have Google Analytics installed on your site, Click on your Traffic Sources > Sources > All Traffic. Next, review your top five traffic sources. Tap on each of them and see the percentage a particular source drives to your websites. This will give a detailed answer on the best platform to market your brand.

Implement SEM and SMM in Your Business

Now that you know that combining both strategies is your brand's ideal marketing option, you must start implementing them. So, define your goals, identify your audience, and do keyword research to achieve maximum results. Remember always to monitor and analyze your results to track the performance of your marketing strategies.