The Difference Between Viral and Social Media Marketing

I work at an advertising agency.  Not surprisingly, social media is on the minds of a lot of people, not the least of which are clients.  Unfortunately, one more than one occasion, client conversions around social media have gone something like this:

• Client: We want to do social media.  Let’s put a banner on Facebook.
• Me: That’s not really social media marketing.  Social media is participatory, you can’t take old advertising models and try to apply them to social media.  It won’t work.
• Client: Ok, then.  Let’s make a viral Facebook application.

Whereas before, the client was tried to transpose traditional advertising to the social media realm, now they are trying to do so with non-traditional, guerilla methods.  I’m not sure I would call that much of an improvement.

Social media marketing is much more than marketing on a social venue.  Even if a viral campaign on a social venue were to be successful, that would only serve one possible purpose of a social media campaign, building awareness.

An all-encompassing social media campaign should also involve branding, brand monitoring, connecting and engaging with customers, providing support, etc.

Let’s not confuse viral with social media marketing.  Likewise, let’s not confuse tactics with strategy.

Tagged as: facebook, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Viral Marketing