Social Media Marketing or Digital Presence - What is the difference?

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The invention of the internet has provided new horizons to the way of life in a million areas, the way we interact with the world, the way we seek information and more so significantly the way businesses operate. It has given birth to a new industry type altogether- E-Commerce.

Businesses are relying more and more on online tools to increase their area of the market, especially now given the state of the world at large after having been struck by a deadly virus; the novel coronavirus. Having to face this pandemic in the absence of the online market space would have made all the businesses go haywire until now.

So let's get to the detail of how businesses establish themselves in the online market space. The crucial elements of online market space are social media marketing and digital presence.

While social media marketing includes promoting a business and its products and services online through various social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many more, digital presence includes the presence of a business online; what you may find when you look up a particular company on the internet (a website, social media handles and so) and it goes beyond from what a business puts up to what the users review it to be.

E-marketing and digital marketing is popular in the E-commerce sector but social media marketing is gaining more and more attention from both businesses and customers. It is the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service, to connect with the public to build a brand, increase the market reach and achieve greater sales, create awareness in the customers about the qualities of what a business is offering and get an opportunity to interact with the customers directly and hear out their reviews for further business improvement.

Almost all businesses nowadays are going for social media marketing especially in the last quarter there has been a significant need to heavily rely on the online tools to keep the business running. Some major social media marketing platforms are Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

Now DIGITAL PRESENCE basically refers to the presence of a business on the internet. If you are able to look up a particular company online and get a search result then that is the digital presence of the particular company. It simply refers to how your business appears online.

It includes contents uploaded by an organization like its website, social media handles and so on and it also includes contents that are not under the organization’s control like online reviews. While social media marketing specifically includes promoting the business digital presence is merely an online presence which may be in the form of a website, an Instagram account or an online review.

To be even more specific here are some examples of social media marketing and digital presence

  • Provide product/service details on Facebook
  • Provide product/service details on Twitter
  • Provide product/service details on Instagram
  • Provide promotional offers and discount details on social media handles
  • Provide about the company on social media

Examples of Digital presence

  • Your website
  • All social media sites
  • Office or store locations (Google maps, etch)
  • Online reviews
  • Digital ads

PROS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Economical: It substitutes physical labor. You do not need to waste money on printing a thousand templates to get a higher business reach. A device with internet connection is all you need to create a social media handle. It saves time, money and labor.

Interactive: It gives the organization a chance to interact with the audience directly and receive constructive feedback. They can ask questions and give suggestions.

Greater customer base: The whole world is your audience when you are there on social media. Everyone using any form of social media can access your product/service details from all around the world.

CONS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

No immediate ROI: Promoting something on social media does not guarantee that it will generate any returns. At times it may appear that the effort to promote something on social media is going in vain. One can promote but one cannot make the people take an interest in one’s content.

Hacking: Proper security must be maintained on all the online channels because a careless online presence will make you become a target overnight. Hackers can use their skills to tarnish your brand by posting negative content. One must use safeguards against such practices.

Risk of Defamation: The online world is cruel. All you need is a device with the internet and you are free to post whatever you want so there always lies a risk of getting negative feedback that can push away interested customers. Even competitors can write negative comments to create a bad image.

Constant updating required: Every day there is a new trend. It is important to go hand in hand with the latest trends and constantly update and refresh content to keep the audience interested and engaged.

PROS OF DIGITAL PRESENCE

Larger audience: Having an online presence will provide you with an audience base containing all types of internet-savvy people. Millions of users from all over the world can access your content and share it if they like it. So it is a large scale promotion opportunity with the whole world available as a potential customer.

Easy Access: An online presence ensures that customers can access you easily. In case of any query or suggestion, it is far more convenient to send a simple mail or drop a comment then to send a handwritten postcard or keep waiting for the call to connect. Accessibility is one prime merit of digital presence. Be it for the purpose of finding out about the price of a product, or placing an order or dropping a review. All are available within a matter of a click.

Opportunity to create a brand image: An online presence gives a business an opportunity to create a healthy brand image. You can post about your qualities, the social responsibilities taken up by the business if any, can organize competitions, interactive content, and more to keep the audience interested. Other than that solving queries will create trust in the audience and will boost the brand image.

CONS OF DIGITAL PRESENCE

Risky reviews: Users are free to drop any kind of review. In the case of multiple poor reviews, people may avoid going for your products. Most people these days prefer checking the online review first, before making the decision to spend a single penny on anything. So in such a case, it is risky if the reviews are least positive.

Fake profiles: Your competitors or any unsatisfied user may go on creating a fake profile to spread fake negativity about your brand. So it is important to get your online accounts verified, especially for small businesses.

Competition: If not properly advertised, your online presence may be counted down as negligible. There is a tough competition about the number of followers and in such a race a budding online business may find it difficult to create a loyal online customer base. You can go unnoticed despite an online presence on all social media handles.

It can be concluded that online the world is dangerous and risky but also helpful, enriching, however dependent upon how you make use of it.

The audience is an equally important part in determining the online success of any organization. So it is important to give priority to all the customer reviews and maintain a healthy glow with the ongoing trends. By posting genuine, inquisitive, and engaging content developing a loyal customer base and positive brand image is not difficult. In the online world, it is the audience that decides the success or failure of an organization, so the prime target is to keep them happy and satisfied otherwise all the effort to create a brand value through online channels will go down in vain.

 Online Presence a tricky web and a basket of opportunity altogether.

How it ends up for the businesses depends on what they portray, what they provide and the quality of their product/service because the users are always entitled to provide their review.

As it stands for all the businesses customer is the king, the same also applies in e-commerce if everyone is happy with what you are offering the digital market will be a great opportunity for the growth of a business. 

Writer: Aastha Soni 

Editor: Sonal Kamble

 


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