What’s the Difference Between Digital Marketing and Digital Advertising?

The vast majority of businesses need an online strategy to grow their business. If you want to stand out among your competitors you will need to invest in marketing, leads nurturing and social media. We’re going to discuss the marketing component in this article and get into the differences between digital marketing and digital advertising so you know where to put your focus.

What’s the difference between digital marketing and digital advertising?

The terms marketing and advertising are often used to mean the same thing and, in truth, there are many similarities between them. On top of this, many digital marketing agencies and other digital marketing experts use these terms interchangeably so it can be a bit confusing. So, what are the differences?

Let’s start with definitions.

Digital marketing is when marketers use the internet to reach consumers. Digital marketing includes optimizing, email marketing, content marketing, and sharing on social media. The purpose of digital marketing is to promote and develop the brand, products and services by offering the right information to the right consumer at the right time.

Digital advertising is a type of marketing where promotional messages are delivered to their intended target audience on the internet. The purpose of digital advertising is to drive traffic and increase sales by reaching a broader range of people. Digital advertising is also called web advertising and online advertising.

The major differences are:

• Digital advertising uses a “push” marketing strategy where products are presented to potential customers in an effort to convince them to buy. Pop-up ads or ads that show up in your Facebook news feed are a good example; they represent a disruptive approach.
• Digital marketing uses “pull” marketing to promote and develop the brand, products and services by offering the right information to the right consumer at the right time. Email marketing to specific customer segments or optimizing around specific keywords are examples of digital marketing; these represent an approach meant to attract customers.
• Digital marketing focuses on relationship building by meeting the needs of specific groups of leads and customers. The effort does not end after the first sale is made and two-way communication is encouraged to nurture the relationship.
• Digital advertising focuses on getting the immediate sale without a plan to build a long-term relationship.

Should I invest in digital marketing or digital advertising?

Digital marketing is an absolute must because it includes the basic work of creating your brand and optimizing your website for search engines. Once your website is up and running, it is highly beneficial to make use of other digital marketing strategies such as sharing written or video content through your blog or YouTube channel and email marketing to your leads and customers.

If you are looking to grow sales quickly, it is a good idea to start a digital advertising campaign. This includes ads on websites and Facebook ads. If your traffic and lead conversions are strong already with your digital marketing strategy, then you may decide not to make an additional investment in digital advertising.

Ideally, businesses invest in both digital marketing and digital advertising but it makes sense to find the balance that suits your needs and budget.

Digital marketing agencies can help guide you to make the best use of your budget.

Look for a Digital Marketing Agency

Softwired provides digital marketing solutions for our clients and partner agencies. We’ve got you covered for web design, blogs, landing pages, SEO, local online presence and optimization, digital marketing, digital sales, and digital advertising. We build websites with WordPress themes and have been using the HubSpot platform to build blogs and landing pages since 2012.

Over the years, we’ve worked with lots of clients who need help with web engineering and digital marketing tasks but don’t have in-house staff. Finding freelancers can be a nightmare and cause a lot of problems when promising delivery of service. Whether you’re interested in web design only or more; we’re ready to help you get started!