While social media advertising and marketing go hand in hand, they are not the same thing. As a local business owner, you should understand the differences between social media advertising vs. marketing to successfully market your business.
Fortunately, our team at Mammoth Marketers specializes in social media marketing for plumbers. We can assist you with building an exceptional digital marketing plan while you handle plumbing work and business operations. Learn how social media advertising differs from social media marketing with the brief guide below.
What Is Social Media Advertising?
Social media advertising refers to strategizing, creating, and publishing advertisements on various social media platforms. You pay for these ads to target a specific subset of people. Advertisements often help businesses reach new people within their target audience. Therefore, you use paid advertisements to grow your following and increase your customer base.
What Is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing refers to the general actions taken on your chosen social media accounts. You don’t necessarily pay for this activity. The marketing aspect covers a broad range of actions, including:
- Creating or updating profiles
- Posting content
- Directing followers to your business website or encouraging them to reach out to your business
While social media marketing can help you grow your business, it primarily focuses on keeping your current audience engaged with your brand.
The Similarities and Differences
How are advertising and marketing on social media similar?
- Each focuses on platform-specific content.
- They can grow your audience.
- You use them to inform your audience about your services and business information.
Their differences lie in how you use them. For example, social media marketing encompasses regular posting and social media advertising. It is a comprehensive umbrella for your platform-related activities. However, you should generally use the marketing concept to inform and engage your current audience.
Social media advertising, on the other hand, is more specific in how it functions. Although it falls under the marketing category, you must develop a detailed strategy to deploy a social media ad. You typically invest money to deploy the ad and target a demographic. Most businesses use advertising to reach a broader audience instead of engaging their current following.
Does Your Plumbing Business Need Both?
Social media advertising vs. marketing — do you need them both for your plumbing business? Or can you choose just one?
Remember that marketing helps you grow, engage, and retain an audience. Advertising focuses on audience growth and attracting new customers. Therefore, you should implement both to market your plumbing company.
Social Media Advertising vs. Marketing: How To Use Them
First, consider social media marketing’s role within a larger digital marketing plan. You use your platforms to:
- Develop your brand
- Connect with your followers
- Provide pertinent business information
- Establish your plumbing service as a knowledgeable and trustworthy entity within your community
These achievements require nurturing and consistency to develop. You’ll need to develop both an overarching social media marketing plan and carefully incorporate your advertising into the existing framework.
For example, say your plumbing company services commercial and residential properties. Your overarching social media marketing plan involves multiple posts to LinkedIn and Facebook weekly using business software for post scheduling. LinkedIn targets business owners, while Facebook engages homeowners. You’ll tailor your weekly posts to your current audiences on both platforms.
When you implement social media advertising into the overall strategy, you leverage your paid ads at the right time and the right place to reach an audience that hasn’t yet checked out your page. Paid ads involve a defined subset of elements, like content, linking, careful audience selection, and payment. Consider how these elements can interact with your overall marketing goals and create a plan tailored to target the right audience.
Mammoth Marketing Specializes in Marketing for Plumbing Businesses!
Social media advertising vs. marketing; each plays an important role in your overall social media strategy. However, your field technicians don’t have time to worry about creating social media posts; they have to worry about fulfilling work orders, after all. Save time on digital marketing by consulting with our team at Mammoth Marketing. We help plumbing businesses thrive with custom digital marketing plans. Call (206) 590-4689 to schedule a consultation.
