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SEO, SEM, SMM: The Trinity of Digital Marketing

2020 / 09 / 24

Let’s start this post off with a question.

Which of the following do you think is the MOST IMPORTANT digital marketing tactic for your business?

  1. Optimizing your website with recognized keywords for search engines (SEO)
  2. Increasing traffic and visibility for your site via paid listings (SEM)
  3. Building a strong online presence for your brand on various social media networks (SMM)

The answer is … ALL OF THE ABOVE!

Why pick one tactic when you can leverage all three? SEO, SEM and SMM should work hand in hand instead of separately or on a “either-or” basis.

Hold on! In the first place, do you know exactly what do these abbreviations mean?

SEO: Search Engine Optimization

The techniques (or the page ranking algorithm it is called) to effectively increase the likelihood of a website appearing on search engine results pages (SERPs) as near to the top of a list as possible for particular keyword searches.

SEO takes time (usually 3 months or above) and great efforts before starting to see the effectiveness.

Image source: https://www.seolium.com/

SEM: Search Engine Marketing 

The use of advertising on search engine results pages to help visitors find your website. SEM often uses pay-per-click (PPC), a bidding model that charges advertisers only when someone clicks on their ad.

SEM is a good way of improving visibility and introducing targeted traffic to your website almost immediately. Yet, this may not be the most sustainable or affordable way to achieve long-term success in digital marketing, in terms of ad spend.

SMM: Social Media Marketing 

It involves promotion through social media networks, in order to broaden your customer reach and increase brand exposure. Instead of a place for hardcore selling, it requires interaction and perhaps a little fun to run.


SEO, SEM & SMM: Which is right for you?

Going back to where we started, let’s have a closer look at the three common digital marketing goals and see how to achieve them using the combined efforts of SEO, SEM and SMM.

Goal 1: Lead Generation 

SEM is generally the top pick. It provides precise conversion and tracking solutions that allow effective target to your ads. It is a lot more productive because quality traffic is usually driven to your page in a shorter time, meaning that visitors are those who with high interest.

Local SEO, a tactic that’s been gaining traction in recent years, focuses on delivering results to a searcher based on their current or intended location.

Source: Think with Google

Don’t forget SMM and by utilizing conventional social network sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or the niches ones like Pinterest, you may find the product-market fit for your audience. Providing the right content at the right time during your sales cycle can increase the chances of closing a deal.

Goal 2: Website Traffic 

Think of SEO for organic and ongoing traffic. Setting up the technical SEO for your page can get your website more visible. A strong SEO coupled with relevant content will increase your ranking and drive more visitors to your site.

Use SMM to support the content that you’ve produced and lead people to your website. The more social media shares you get, the higher chances for people will see and visit your site.

Additionally, if you have the budget, you can also think about SEM. It isn’t just about showing up in SERPs, but more importantly making sure your customers see and click on your display, video, or shopping ads.

Goal 3: Targeting and Reach 

With SEM, ad targeting is very specific and comprehensive. You can set up multiple targeting preferences based on variables such as locations, users’ interests, demographics, and many more. Retargeting can also be made a lot easier, which tends to be more effective in boosting conversion rate.  

Many social networks allow users to provide detailed personal, demographic, and geographical information, which enables marketers to tailor their messages such that it is most likely to resonate with the intended users.

Social media platforms have in-built data analytics tools that allow marketers to track how successful their efforts have been, by providing accurate insights into engagement metrics, e.g. the number of likes on a post, the number of shares and reach, the click-through rates and finally, the sales funnel created through the leads generated.

Companies also have the option of launching paid ad campaigns to reach wider target audiences, thus improving the website traffic.


Power up your choice 

After identifying the priority of your business goal, you surely want to have a quick recap of comparison on the three tactics? Here you go!

SMM, though not directly involves search engines, still plays a key role in a website’s exposure with consistent digital marketing efforts. Whereas dealing with search engines requires a delicate and constant adjustment to page ranking algorithm (for SEO) or costly premiums (for SEM), working through social media is relatively low-budget and brings amazingly lucrative growth, if done properly.


Our professional team can help you analyze your internet presence and offer comprehensive solutions that meet your goals and budget. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.


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