What sets digital marketing apart from social media? In essence, digital marketing encompasses a range of tactics such as SEO, Email Marketing, Content Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, and others, while social media is merely a component of the overall digital marketing strategy.
The terms “digital marketing” and “social media marketing” are frequently used interchangeably, even among professionals in these fields. Some may mistakenly think that they are doing digital marketing solely by utilizing social media.
If you’re involved in “digital marketing”, it often means you’re utilizing multiple digital marketing channels. This could involve creating a digital marketing plan incorporating SEO, Email Marketing, Content Marketing, Analytics & Social media. You wouldn’t usually describe having a digital marketing strategy if you’re only using one channel, such as social media. Digital marketing commonly refers to the utilization of various online marketing channels.
What exactly is digital marketing?
Marketing, according to the dictionary, is the act of promoting products and services to generate profit. However, by adding the word “digital” to it, the definition can be revised as the process of advertising products and services through digital channels to make them profitable.
Setting technical jargon aside, digital marketing refers to the application of a personalized collection of digital marketing platforms to achieve one or more of the following objectives:
- Growing your sales and profit
- Build awareness and develop a relationship with your audience
- Add Value: Implement inbound marketing strategies that will cause customers to seek you out
- Promote your brand, product, or service
- And much more
Remember, you don’t have to utilize every digital marketing channel at your disposal to reach your objectives. Rather, you can develop a tailored selection of digital marketing channels that suit your brand, target audience, and financial resources.
Not all marketing channels are going to have the same impact. The ideal digital marketing mix will depend on each business since each industry and audience will respond differently to different marketing channels. For this reason, oftentimes, you must implement strategies, test, change, test again, and measure which strategies are working the best for your business. Then you can drop the marketing channels that are not delivering a satisfactory ROI or growth rate.
Does digital marketing go beyond the internet?
Digital marketing has actually been in existence for quite some time, contrary to what many may think. Its inception dates back to the time when households started housing radios and televisions, and it wasn’t solely birthed alongside the advent of the Internet.
Digital marketing encompasses not only the Internet and social media, including platforms like Twitter, email marketing, and SEO, but also other methods such as TV, radio, digital signs, and billboards. This means that even a restaurant displaying its daily specials on a digital sign outside is employing digital marketing techniques.
Due to the fact that a majority of consumers conduct research, browse, and make purchases on the internet, digital marketing campaigns heavily rely on online tools like SEO, PPC, email marketing, online ads, web and mobile design, and social media. Developing a comprehensive digital marketing plan is a time-consuming process and may not produce immediate results.
What exactly is social media marketing?
Digital marketing encompasses more than just social media marketing. It refers to the promotion of goods and services through various channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Google+, YouTube, and other social networking sites. Social media marketing usually includes activities such as interacting with followers, identifying and engaging influencers, organizing contests, publishing content, live-streaming, and using other strategies to attract attention with concise messages or updates.
Social media campaigns may yield a faster response for companies and brands compared to other forms of digital marketing, yet this usually falls short. Thus, it is crucial for businesses and brands to refrain from solely relying on social media for marketing their offerings, and to make use of various other digital marketing components concurrently.
Why focus on social media marketing at all?
Incorporating social media marketing into your digital marketing strategy is essential regardless of the other forms of digital marketing you use or the nature of your business. The numerical data can serve as a starting point if you are uncertain about the reasons why.
Take Twitter, for example. Approximately 8,000 tweets are sent out per second. At the start of 2018, the social media site had over 330 million monthly active users, 69 million of which were located in the United States. Twitter users tend to be Millennials who are college-educated and have a higher-than-average income. They use the platform to discover new things, as well as for customer service. They also tend to follow their favorite small and medium businesses. And those numbers only apply to one of many social media platforms. You’ll find equally-enticing numbers for the other big social media sites.
Additionally, there are other motives to emphasize social media.
- No need to create your own content: While you’ll want to share content you’ve created, and good content at that, there’s no need to create content just for the sake of your social media marketing campaign. You can jump right in and share content from others until you have your own. A large part of social media marketing is simply content curation.
- Engagement gets your name out there: Jump into conversations. Tweet influencers. Ask questions. Hold contests. Be genuine. It’s easy to gain attention if you do it the right way.
- It’s easy to search for what you’re looking for. If you sell baby products to new moms, just start searching for new moms posting baby pictures on Twitter and Instagram. Follow them. Like their picture. Leave a comment. There are no months long research to do to find your target audience.
- You can post as much or as little as you like: though it’s important to know that posting too much can annoy your followers and posting too little can make your followers forget about you. However, keep in mind that each social media platform has differences in how much is socially acceptable to post (each social media platform has its own culture & norms). For example, it would be acceptable to post many times a day on Twitter. However, with Facebook, that level could annoy your audience.
- It’s fast: There is really no faster way to reach your customers or potential customers than by engaging them on social media.
How To Minimize Cybersecurity Risk From Social Media
Relying solely on a firewall and antivirus or malware prevention software is no longer sufficient, and hoping for the best is not effective. With 1 in 3 businesses having suffered a data breach in the last year, it is crucial for organizations to take prompt action and enhance their security measures.
As soon as you log into a news source, you are likely to come across reports of a recent data breach attack. This should be a cause for alarm, especially since such an attack can result in sensitive business information being compromised, as well as a potential phishing scheme targeting your personal data, causing panic among you and your team. Therefore, it is important to prioritize reducing your cybersecurity risk without delay.
This article will explore the cybersecurity landscape of social media within the context of businesses, along with some guidelines for reducing associated risks.
Understand the risks
Several cyber threats linked to social media exist, some of which may go unnoticed by companies yet can cause significant harm.
Attempts to trick people into giving away sensitive information through fraudulent means.
It has become increasingly common to encounter phishing attacks on social media platforms in addition to emails. These attacks aim to obtain either data or money by deceiving employees into making unwarranted payments.
Passwords that are not strong or secure enough.
Regrettably, a considerable number of staff social media accounts still utilize easily guessed passwords. In certain instances, these accounts are considered to be of less risk, making users believe that it is unnecessary to create a robust password.
Accounts that are not being monitored.
Similar to what we mentioned in our previous article about social media for accountants, unwatched social media accounts are frequently preyed upon by cybercriminals. This encompasses accounts that were previously utilized for company social media but are now defunct, belonged to former employees, or were used for any campaign that is no longer operational.
Mistakes made by people.
According to reports, 95% of cyber breaches are attributed to human error, indicating a significant concern. Despite everyone’s tendency to make mistakes, those that have a severe impact on cybersecurity require attention. Employees frequently make errors because they are unaware that they are doing something wrong.
IT in the shadows of social media
Numerous software options are available to simplify the management of business social media, but it is crucial to acknowledge the dangers of shadow IT and how utilizing unauthorized applications may result in cybersecurity hazards. Shadow IT encompasses any software that the IT department has not sanctioned. This could pose a threat to security if the software is not current or has recognized vulnerabilities, as hackers can exploit them.
Rising levels of social media-oriented cybercrime
Regrettably, these risks are causing a tangible surge in cybercrime via social media platforms. According to data, cybercriminals exploit social media channels and extort nearly $3.25 billion annually. These are difficulties that businesses confront on a daily basis.
It is a fact that certain organizations may have been sluggish in adapting, putting them at risk.
Changing your approach to cybersecurity
Businesses need to adopt a more serious attitude towards cybersecurity and revise their strategies. Relying solely on a firewall and antivirus software installed is no longer adequate, and hoping for the best is not a viable option.
Although these tools are still essential, they need to be accompanied by proactive and reactive strategies.
Minimizing and mitigating risk
Fortunately, there are numerous measures that can be implemented to reduce and address potential cybersecurity hazards stemming from social media.
Training of employees
Providing employees with suitable training is crucial, particularly in the area of social media safety. Workers must be equipped with the necessary knowledge to safeguard themselves. Through top-notch training, employees can become aware of potential hazards and receive guidance on effectively addressing issues. It is important to regularly update and refresh the training content.
Make use of external resources to handle your cybersecurity.
The shortage of cybersecurity experts has resulted in high costs for hiring competent professionals, which is challenging for small and medium-sized enterprises. Nonetheless, this does not imply that you must forego the required proficiency. It is beneficial to partner with a cybersecurity service provider and delegate the responsibilities to them.
Rick Jones from Info Security Magazine suggests that as cybercrime becomes more intricate and advanced, in-house SecOps teams lack the necessary expertise to adequately protect their company’s defenses. Therefore, outsourcing cybersecurity may not only be a wise choice for businesses, but it may also become a vital factor in a world with a shortage of cyber-skills but an abundance of cybercrime.
Authentication through multiple factors.
All major social media platforms offer multi-factor authentication (MFA), which is an effortless solution that almost every organization can implement to improve the security of their social media accounts. MFA requires a second set of credentials when logging into an account.
Jed Kafetz, Head of Penetration Testing at Redscan, states that he often comes across organizations that neglect to implement multi-factor authentication consistently across their systems and applications. This is a crucial issue for him because multi-factor authentication serves as an additional line of defense if a password is hacked, particularly because many individuals tend to recycle their passwords. If more organizations were to incorporate multi-factor authentication, the number of security breaches would decrease significantly, according to him.
Authenticating credentials can take various forms, such as sending a passcode to a mobile device, entering a distinct passcode, or verifying biometric data.
Collect information.
Ensuring effective defenses against cybercrime involves significant emphasis on intelligence gathering. The best defense against cybercrime is often rooted in preparedness. This underscores the importance of offering updated and appropriate training. It is essential to keep the personnel well-informed regarding various challenges.
Your cybersecurity preparation cannot be lacking as there exist both paid and free threat intelligence tools. Determine which tool aligns best with your business requirements and devise an implementation strategy.
Develop an official guideline for social media use within the company.
Establishing a social media policy is an imperative for your business. This policy will entail a set of regulations that dictate how social media should be utilized by the company and its workforce. Not only does implementing a corporate social media policy ensure cybersecurity, but it also serves to reduce adverse PR and legal entanglements.
Your social media content should address topics relating to copyright, confidentiality, and brand policies. Additionally, it’s important to establish guidelines for suitable devices for social media as well as tips on how to avoid common pitfalls, such as quizzes that solicit personal information and put you at risk of identity theft.
