Watch this smackdown between “Social Media” and “Search Engine Marketing” to see who wins the 4-round
Photo courtesy of MDG Advertising: Social Media v. Search Engine Marketing
battle.
MDG Advertising created a very cool videographic explaining which medium, social media or search engine marketing, gets the best results in the categories of lead generation, brand awareness, local business visibility, and interactivity.
As you may have guessed, search engines help immensely with lead generation because they direct prospects to your site 24/7/365 once your content is posted and indexed. Hence the importance of blogging regularly for your business. Social media requires sending messages, building an audience, and continuous engagement. Social loses Round 1.
Unfortunately, search engines are not the best tool to increase brand awareness – Search loses that round. Social media exposes your brand to large audiences, increases traffic to your website and helps improve search engine rankings.
If you’re doing business locally, search engines will be more beneficial than social media in terms of attracting new customers. Listing your business address, keeping your Google Place page up to date, and participating in communities like Yelp are very important for this reason. New customers may not know you exist so let the search engines work for you. Looks like Search is back in the match with one round to go.
Final round: If you’re using social media correctly, you know that it is very interactive and engaging – Social wins, hands down. Social media can be used as a marketing tool, customer service tool, and as a customer relationship marketing (CRM) and research tool.
The battle is over and both Social and Search won two rounds. Who’s the real winner her? YOU!
Turns out social media and search engine marketing make better teammates than opponents.
The lesson: Pair the two to reach your marketing goals!
