Maintaining a successful business means creating revenue from both existing and new customers. Good content marketing helps in creating trust in existing customers and in finding new ones.

So how does creating good content marketing help? Studies have shown consumers prefer informational articles to ads by 75 percent. In organizations that are business-to-business providers 60 percent of the decision makers believe that branded content helps them make better decisions. And in consumer oriented businesses 61 percent of them are more likely to buy from companies that provide good content marketing information.

Building Loyalty With Content Marketing

Using good content marketing to create customer loyalty and trust is not a new concept. Here are two examples. In 1900 the Michelin Tire Company created the Michelin Guides. In 1982 toy manufacturer Hasbro teamed up with Marvel Comics to sell the now very popular GI Joe toy series.

In addition to creating trust your good content marketing articles can lend you the mantle of authority. When you answer customer questions in articles, or create white papers, or put a how-to video on your website, that label of authority starts to form. And when you create that authority through articles, make sure you give the readers an opportunity to purchase your products and services.

Remember to ask your customers to share this content you create. As they touch their circle of friends and acquaintances, they become positive advocates of you and your service.

Storytelling With Content Marketing

Story telling is captivating, creates conversation, can be compelling, and shows people how overcoming obstacles is easier with your product or service. Story telling is the basis for good content marketing.

One story that has been around for decades is about a supervisor training a new clerk in a hardware and tool store. “How do you sell people these quarter-inch drill bits,” asked the supervisor. “I don’t know,” says the clerk. “You sell them on the idea that this tool is what they need to use to end up with a quarter-inch hole.” Every time I walk into a hardware store or lumberyard I remember that story and it helps me make better decisions about the tools I’m about to buy.

What are your stories? Can they be tied to your brand, or the brands you are selling? Good content marketing is really discovering the stories that set you, your people, and your organization apart from the competition. These stories give people a reason to come back to you over and over again. These stories give your customers a reason to talk to their friends about you, your products, and services. If you are a manufacturer and can pass these stories onto your vendors, you help them create loyal customers, sell more of your product and come back to you. If you are a service provider, good stories give your customers something to share and can bring you a whole new generation of customers.

Lots of information is shared about the effect of good advertising, or social media as the way to create customer trust. Maybe the solution is webinars, or press releases, or creating an app. When you use content, stories that compare and contrast, or pictures that show before and after results, or interviews with satisfied customers, or even share your failures as guides to help your customers make better decisions, you create loyalty, advocacy, trust and give people more reasons to come back to you. Creating good content marketing in whatever customer venues you use makes you more money.

Retargeting is used by many businesses to lure previous users of a website back for repeat business or a second look. This method of interacting with customers may also be called remessaging. The practice can be used for product social engagement, branding and product upsells. Google’s version of retargeting is AdWords Remarketing. Many novice users choose AdWords Remarketing for its ease of use.

How to Set Up a AdWords Remarketing Account

Identify Your AdWords Audience. Audiences are defined as the groups of people that should view the ad or be targeted and groups of people to exclude from targeting. The user will determine which pages will be used to retarget users and which pages will not be used for retargeting. Each ad group will have a separate audience to ensure the appropriate people are viewing the advertisement.

For instance, some people who added to a shopping cart but did not complete a purchase might be included in a group to exclude from the retargeting advertising. Alternatively, the company may include a targeted advertisement to offer these users free shipping or a discount. A company can also deliver targeted advertising to people who sign up on the website out more about future product releases.

Create Remarketing Lists. When the audiences are identified, lists can be created. Remessaging lists are typically how companies define audiences. After the lists are created, code will be generated to place into the site to track visitors. With the cookie on the visitors computer, the company can tell if the customer has ever visited the customer’s site.

Creating Custom Combinations. Custom combinations can be created after the lists are created. These custom combinations can be created by following the instructions. Custom combinations selection is located under the Audiences tab.

Create Adwords Remarketing Ads. Text and banner ads must be added to match the goal of the ad group. Since remessaging ads target people who have visited your website, purchased on your website or abandon an order on your website, the ads should be used to entice customers back. The ads may offer discounts, free shipping, reveal your competitive edge, remind the customer of a product he or she was interested in or try to entice a user to sign up for a newsletter. Test ads may also be created to test different wording to determine what is most effective.

Direct to Adwords Remarketing Landing Pages. Some marketing companies may direct users to their home pages or other pages on their websites for remessaging ads. The landing pages must correspond to the information listed in the ad otherwise this will pose a problem.

Set Frequency Capping. Frequency capping limits the number of times an ad is displayed to a user in a 24 hour period. Between seven and 12 impressions is recommended. The larger number is recommended until the data is gathered, and then, the number can be reduced. If a cap is not set, your customers will feel stalked.

Optimize the Remarketing Campaign. Ensure that the re-messaging campaign is optimized for the best results.

Use Advanced Tagging. Advanced tagging allows companies to delay targeting to sell products that expire, are only sold during certain times of the year or need to be replaced at certain intervals. For instance, targeted ads may be used for oil change reminders every three months.

B2B marketing is all about differentiating your company from others in your industry. This differentiation allows you much more market share, perhaps even market domination. Without it, your company would be unable to communicate a powerful message to consumers. B2B marketing is different than B2C marketing in many ways, but the core principles are still the same. Everything starts with good customer service.

Business to consumer (B2C) marketing focuses on gathering leads and exposing a company to consumers rather than other businesses. Business to consumer marketing is slightly different from business to business (B2B) marketing. In B2C marketing, a store typically markets to consumers or end users. The store can either be online or have a physical address.

B2C marketing is somewhat easier than B2B marketing in many ways because the price points are usually lower for B2C marketing than B2B marketing. For instance, the typical B2C marketing may target a market to buy products between $1 and $1 million in range. Most B2B sales targets small businesses or large enterprises and may range from $99 to hundreds of millions, but the price point could be lower. Let us examine different aspects of B2C marketing for a better understanding.

B2C in the Online and Offline World

Offline. Businesses market to customers offline by using various methods of promotion through traditional marketing channels such as billboards, commercials, print advertising and signage. These forms of advertising generate sales leads or traffic to the store. With increase sales traffic, there are more opportunities for sales to occur. B2C marketing is necessary for company exposure.

Offline transactions occur in a store or some other location where the customer as the opportunity to communicate with the store representative and form a relationship. At the point of sale, sales people will gather information about the customer to use for future purposes. When the relationship is formed, sales people can recommend products or services and facilitate the sale based on the information gathered from previous sales. After several visits, customers will become loyal to the brand because of the personal service received.

Online. Online B2C marketing typically involves pay per click advertising through Google AdWords or banner advertisements. Local search engine ads are also used. The clicks help companies gather leads or sales conversions.

An offline sale typically involves a sales person, and there is often a commission at stake. With sales people involved, the sale offline becomes different from a sale that occurs online. A sale online does not involve sales people. Instead, companies use content to convince customers to buy certain products. Targeted advertising is used to recommend certain products during the searching phase. Some companies may integrate this feature into their websites.

There is no commission at stake in online sales if the customer buys directly from the manufacturer. If the customer buys from an affiliate, there is a commission at stake but it may be transparent to the user. The best affiliates have high search engine rankings, and this is how they make more money than other sales people on the web.

Why Use Both Strategies? Many consumers know what they want and would prefer not to deal with sales people who may or may not be high pressure. The online environment is preferable for these people who can make their own decision through research. Most companies have an online and offline strategy for this reason.

The online strategy will appeal to the analytical and highly demanding customer who would prefer not to interact with sales people. These people may never see a billboard or print advertisement if they conduct most business online. The offline strategy will appeal to customers who wants to belong to a group or who are highly social. These people can respond to print marketing advertising. Successful companies know how to market and sell to both types of customer

Internet marketing helps companies gain exposure and attracts leads for sales conversions. Internet marketing strategies are devised to increase public awareness of online users and to convince people to buy who have expressed an interest in a company’s product or service. Marketing campaigns on the Internet are successful if lead capture numbers and sales conversions increase.

Internet Marketing Goals

The primary goal of any company is to increase sales revenue. Revenue will not increase if customers do not know the company, products or services exist. Companies must use basic marketing strategies to create awareness. Basic strategies of Internet marketing include:

Content Marketing: This marketing technique is used to attract and engage an audience by presenting relevant content. The goal of content marketing is to solicit customer action that results in increased profitability. Companies who have mastered the art of content marketing can convince their customers to buy without directly selling the product. Content marketing provides value to customers by demonstrating the need for a particular product or service. Companies that consistently deliver quality information to buyers will earn customers’ business and build brand loyalty.

Social Media: Social media is another marketing tool designed to help companies gain exposure. Companies use social media to launch promotional campaigns and to solicit feedback from an audience. Social media is employed to keep a company’s audience informed. Information about the company’s field of expertise is provided to build trust. When the company establishes itself as a leader in the industry, customers are more apt to purchase products and remain loyal to the organization.

Through promotional campaigns, companies gather new leads from people who may be interested in the product. Promotional campaigns could include a sweepstakes, free merchandise or discounted merchandise. Each strategy convinces the audience to consider the product or services the company is offering.

Social media also provides a forum that is available 24 hours per day and seven days per week. The forum is designed to help companies solicit feedback about featured products and services. In exchange for helping a company improve its products or services, free merchandise or discounts may be offered.

SEO and SEM: Search engine optimization and search engine marketing are essential to developing a successful Internet marketing campaign. Both strategies help companies gain exposure through search engines. Each strategy helps businesses increase traffic and sales conversions.

Search engine optimization (SEO) involves the art of developing a website that Google will rank high in the search engine list. High rankings improve the visibility of a company and deliver more traffic to the company’s website. Increased website traffic provides greater opportunities for companies to convert a sale if the website’s design, layout, usability and content are appealing to visitors. SEO is important in every Internet marketing strategy whether marketing to a local or global audience.

Search engine marketing (SEM) differs from SEO because this strategy focuses on using advertisements to convince the audience that there is a need for a product or service. If the ad is effective, customers will click on the advertisement to learn more about the product or service. Convinced customers will purchase a product or service if a need or want exists.

SEM could involve the use of banner ads or margin links. Pay per click campaigns are popular because companies only pay to advertise to people with a high probability of interest. Targeted marketing saves companies money.

Email Marketing: Email marketing may be used in conjunction with social media marketing or SEM marketing. Leads may be captured through a sweepstakes hosted on Facebook or Twitter or through customer inquiries on the company’s website. Once leads have been captured on a website, companies may launch email marketing campaigns to people who are interested in a product or service. The emails act as sales inquiries to gauge the interest of each sales lead. If the emails are effective, the leads will convert to sales, and companies will increase revenue.

Email marketing can be effective because it is more direct than other forms of marketing. The email arrives in the customer’s personal inbox and is available for perusal at the customer’s leisure. A company must ensure that the email is effective in selling the product or service for maximum effectiveness of the marketing strategy.

Web Video: Web video can be effective for some companies if a compelling and memorable campaign is developed. The best videos often have a viral effect and can reach the masses in a short period of time. Viral videos require ingenuity and an awareness of the intended audience’s preferences.

Web video can be created to inform, entertain or a combination of the two. The primary goal of the video is to gain customers trust and convince them to purchase a product or service. Web video is a low cost way to reach the masses.

The Basics are Within Reach

The basic components of Internet marketing are accessible and easy to implement. Since Internet marketing is typically more affordable than traditional marketing, companies can cast a wider net and reach a larger audience without sacrificing the budget. Internet marketing is an efficient and cost effective form of marketing that every business with an online presence should explore.

When you own an online business, website or blog, visibility is key and search engine marketing will help you obtain that visibility. It doesn’t matter how great your product or information is if nobody knows about it. This is where search engine marketing comes in. Search engine marketing, or SEM is the science of making your website more easily found by search engines. The gold standard in SEM is to have your website show up in the first page of search engine results.

How Does Search Engine Marketing Work?

Search engines have an important function. When a searcher enters a term into the search box, the engines scour the Internet, looking for the most relevant content for the term. These terms are found in the page’s content, links, images and headings. When the search engine finds the perfect match, they deliver them to the searcher in order of importance. The key to winning the search game is to convince the search engines that your site is the most relevant to the search term.

Use Search Engine Marketing To Get Seen

There are several ways to make your page more visible to search engines. The first is through quality content. The number one rule of search engine optimization and marketing is to have good content. This means offering your customer what he is looking for. Quality articles, blog postings, video, podcasts, links and images are the key ingredients to a high ranking page. In addition, backlinks to more reputable sites will give you higher ranking as well. A backlink is simply a link to your page from a page with heavy traffic and higher ranking. If you want great placement, simply create a site that is relevant to your topic and keep it updated.

Finally, paid search programs such as Google Adwords will allow you to pay to place ads on popular sites. This will draw more traffic to your site, giving you more traffic and search engine visibility.

The Meat of Search Engine Marketing

There are several ways to make sure your content is not only user-friendly but search engine friendly. First, you will need a healthy dose of patience. Search engine marketing may require weeks and even months of work before you see dramatic results. The second is keyword research. Find out what keywords your customers are searching for and include them in your headings, articles, blog postings, image captions and links. You will also need to research your site’s traffic. Through analytics programs you will see exactly what sites drive the most traffic to your site. You will also find what key terms they searched to arrive at your site. Google Insights is an excellent tool that you can use to analyze your site’s performance. Perform regular analytics on your site and tailor your content to your user’s needs.

Utilize Social Media Within Your Search Engine Marketing

One of the key components of search engine marketing is social integration. Invite your readers to comment on your blog postings or leave product reviews. Add in buttons that make it easy for them to share your site on social media platforms. Your users will essentially do all of your marketing for you. Start a social media profile and encourage your followers to promote your content on their sites.

Search engine marketing is one of the key components to having a well-trafficked site. Don’t overlook this important function when promoting your business.

For the fourth year, the Social Media Marketing Industry Report for 2012 surveyed over 3800 marketers from the United States and around the world to find out how they were using social media, what questions they had about social media, and what plans they had for marketing in general. The majority of respondents works for a small business or are self-employed. Social media is on the rise, and marketing professionals are using it to their advantage.

With the increased popularity of social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube, social media marketing is a hard topic to ignore. 83% of marketers agree, and view social media as an important marketing tool. Social media is being used by Business-to-Business companies as well as Business-to-Consumer companies. The top five social media avenues marketers currently use are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and YouTube, the same top five as 2011. The self-employed and small businesses were more likely to use LinkedIn, while larger businesses were more likely to use YouTube. Overall, 94% of marketers surveyed said they use some form of social media.

But how effective is social media marketing? This is one of the most commonly asked questions by marketers. The survey revealed that some of the most popular questions marketers have about social media marketing revolve around how to measure the effect it is having on their business. Other questions marketers had were about how best to use social media tools, how to engage audiences, and how to use social media tools for marketing. The respondents that did notice the effects of social media on their business reported that social media was best for increasing exposure and traffic for their business. Interestingly, 65% of marketers also use social media to gain marketplace intelligence. Improved sales, lead generation, and developing a loyal fan base were also cited as advantages of using social media in their marketing strategy.

Although it may seem like marketers have a handle on social media, the survey revealed a desire to learn more about various social media tools. 40% of marketers said they have less than one year experience with using social media. Some of these same beginners spent much less time during their week utilizing these tools. The survey showed that experience and time spent on social media activities are positively correlated. Beginners spent less than six hours on social media, whereas marketers who have been using social media for more than six months spent six hours a week or more on social media activities. Small businesses, the self-employed, and younger marketers also tend to spend more time on social media marketing.

15% of marketers reported spending more than 20 hours each week on social media activities. That’s quite a bit of time, considering all the other marketing tools that are available. But only about half of the respondents who spend at least 11 hours a week on social media report reduced marketing expenses. Surprisingly, a small percentage of marketers outsource any of their social media activities. Only 30% of marketers said they outsourced social media tasks including design and development, analytics, content creation, monitoring, and research. Looking to the future, marketers want to learn more about social media tools, specifically Google+ and blogs. And the number one social media marketing tool marketers intend to use–YouTube. 76% of marketers want to use YouTube and videos for social media marketing in the near future. Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and Google+ were also on many marketers’ to-do lists.

There are two main types of marketing in the modern world: outbound and inbound. Major differences exist between Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing, but both have their place in a company’s overall marketing strategy. Here are some of the distinctive characteristics of these marketing categories.

Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing – Inbound

The principle of inbound marketing is that potential customers should be attracted to a company and its message rather than having ads rammed into their faces. Inbound marketers work to provide interesting and entertaining content that will arouse people’s desire to learn more. Eventually, this should result in increased sales.

A wide variety of content and media are used for inbound marketing vs outbound marketing. Some of these, like white papers, are old standbys that are left over from the newspaper era. Others, like podcasts, social media and blogs, are products of the digital age. In many cases, old methods are hybridized with new delivery technologies to provide updated versions. Products that fall into this category include e-books, infographics and digitized white papers.

Inbound marketing vs outbound marketing also has a level of interactivity not found with outbound methods. Blogs and social media invite your prospects to communicate with your company. People who post comments on your blogs and send tweets to your Twitter account expect responses. Therefore, it is important to make sure comments are attended to in a timely manner. The more immediate your response, the more impressive it will be and the more fruitful your internet marketing efforts will be.

Search marketing is another form of inbound marketing. Done properly, it can bring wild levels of success. This is especially true if you can get the top organic listing under keywords relevant to your company’s offerings. The organic listings are the ones you don’t have to pay the search engines for. You may, however, have to spend plenty on SEO to attain a high-ranking organic listing if you are in a competitive market.

While some inbound marketing methods may seem dubious, the figures tell a different story. Inbound techniques result in a lower cost per lead than that of the outbound style.

Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing – Outbound

This is most commonly understood as traditional advertising. It encompasses media like billboards, TV ads, telemarketing, print ads and other such things. The message is spread out from the company to people who may have no interest in it whatsoever. With outbound marketing, it is the marketing department’s job to catch the attention of the uninterested audience and then make them interested.

Many people find this type of marketing to be intrusive and will actively try to avoid it. Direct mail pieces go unopened 44 percent of the time, young adults skip by TV ads and people even leave websites that have ads that are too intrusive. With this kind of a response, it’s no wonder that traditional advertising and its variants have a higher per lead cost than its alternatives.

Despite these disadvantages, outbound marketing has an important place in a company’s overall strategy. It is an excellent way to keep a brand in the public eye. Even with the most active avoidance methods, people would have to live in the deep woods to avoid knowing about a company that saturates the airwaves, newspapers and Internet with its ads. Outbound marketing is also a good way to let people know about a sale or special event.

Blending Inbound and Outbound Marketing Methods Together

All of the inbound marketing vs outbound marketing techniques in the world won’t work if people don’t know they exist. Therefore, it can be a good strategy to use outbound marketing methods to drive the initial audience to your inbound content. Inbound marketing can also be used to let people know about outbound promotions like coupons and sales.

When trying to wrap your head around Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing, you should work to keep a unified message between the two types of marketing to strengthen the branding effect and eliminate psychological barriers between the two types. A person should feel that all of the marketing you do is an extension of the same company. This way, the buying mood won’t be broken if a prospect stumbles on a different branch of your marketing efforts before committing to a purchase.

PPC 101 starts with Google Adwords. To start a pay per click (PPC) campaign, people must first understand the components of a campaign and how to launch an efficient campaign. PPC campaigns should address forums to launch campaigns, content management, keyword identification and the process for establishing accounts. Here are the essential components of a PPC campaign and how each component will help companies increase revenue:

PPC 101: Google AdWords

Many experts recommend Google Adwords for novices in the PPC campaign development process. PPC 101 starts with working with Google AdWords first, users can get an idea of what to expect from other PPC networks. Use Google AdWords to learn the pay per click process and apply the skills and principles to other PPC networks in your PPC 101 process. AdWords tools helps with the set up process. Some of the tools for setup are exceptional.

Content Structuring. Experts first recommend setting goals for the organization. The goals will dictate how the PPC 101 campaign and content is structured. Methods of measurement must be determined to adequately determine when the campaign has reached a level of success. Every company’s goals and measurements will be different. It is important to determine what is important to your organization to achieve maximum success.

Some experts recommend developing themes around a persona. The development of personas is the practice of convincing the user that by clicking on the ad some level of satisfaction will be achieved. In a PPC 101 campaign, companies must determine what components of the ad will make viewers satisfied and appeal to those needs, desires and wants. These types of campaigns typically yield more results because companies give customers what they are seeking.

Another approach involves developing campaigns based on keywords solely. This is the most common form of content structuring. Companies identify the core keyword phrases and then, expound upon each keyword phrase until all iterations are listed.

For instance, a person may be starting a website about computers. The key words for “computers” may be “tablet computers,” “desktop computers,” “laptop computers,” “inexpensive computers” and the list goes on. By the end of the exercise, companies will know what keywords most people would search if they were looking for their product or service online.

The keywords should be organized into three or more campaigns. If only one or two keyword iteration lists are established, poor scores will be achieved. The more campaigns created, the more likely the company will yield significant traffic from the campaign. A list of negative keywords should also be created to increase visibility.
Identifying possible keywords is just the first stage of the PPC 101 process. The next stage is identifying the keywords from the list that will generate the most traffic.

Identify Traffic-Generating Keywords. The entire point of a PPC 101 campaign is to get someone interested enough to click on the advertisement. From the advertisement, the company must have a website compelling enough to convince the customer to buy the product or service. Traffic-generating keywords must be identified.

The best way to identify traffic-generating keywords is to use websites that indicate the frequency the keywords are searched by people on the Internet. Once the keywords that generate the most traffic are identified, keywords can be selected. With Google Adwords, companies must bid on keywords to have their company’s ad viewed when the keyword is searched in Google.

Some companies may not select the highest traffic-generating key words because these words cost the most per click. Pay per click campaigns can become expensive easily if the campaign is not effective in generating sales. If people are clicking and not buying, the company is losing money.

Setup AdGroups and AdCopy. Once the keywords are chosen, AdCopy can be written containing the keywords. This will aid in traffic generation. AdGroups must also be selected for local campaigns to direct people who are interested in local searches for a product or service. Local searches account for a vast majority of searches on the Internet. This is an important aspect of setting up a campaign.

Install Analytics. Users should install analytics to measure a campaign’s success to avoid losing money. The campaign can be modified if it is generating clicks but not sales. If the pay per click ad is not generating clicks, the advertisement may not be compelling enough, or the keywords were not appropriately selected. Either of these problems can be modified.

PPC 101: Google AdWords is Just the Beginning

Once Google AdWords has been mastered, consider using other networks. Most companies choose Google AdWords because setup is easy, and it is proven to be effective. A PPC campaign is not difficult to set up, but it will require some effort to generate all the possible keywords to launch an effective campaign. Sign up for Google AdWords and get started setting up your campaign.

Social Media vs SEO – Which one gives you the best returns? In the quest for online marketing dominance, there are those who advocate search engine optimization and those who promote social media. Both approaches boast success stories and failures. Ford recently announced its plans to continue using social media platform Facebook, while GM cut its Facebook advertising due to a poor return on investment. On the SEO front, free dating website Mingle2 leveraged the power of SEO to become a page 1 Google hit. SEO failures, on the other hand, are so widespread that there is no textbook case. So which is more important?

The frustrating answer on the topic of Social Media vs SEO is that it depends an awful lot on what a business is looking to accomplish. SEO and social media address entirely different audiences. It’s right in the names. Search engine optimization is all about getting information in front of users that don’t have it. People go to a search engine to find information they need or want that they don’t already have available. In general terms, this means getting the highest possible page rank on Google, since Google is the 800-pound gorilla of search engines.

This makes Social Media vs SEO ideal for businesses and local businesses, in particular, looking to generate sales. If someone is looking for a contractor, air conditioning repair business, clothing store or restaurant, the internet is generally the first stop. They’ll type in whatever kind of business they want and their city. The search engine then spits out a list and probably a map pinpointing the exact locations of these businesses. If the business has followed SEO best practices, maintained a blog with keyword relevant content, used appropriate meta tags, and built an otherwise user friendly site, there’s a decent chance the business will turn up on the first page. This kind of marketing increases the chances of picking up new customers and the business benefits directly.

Marketing on Social Media Websites

Marketing on social media sites is an entirely different animal. Social media, while content driven in some ways, is centered on peer groups sharing ideas, responding to trends, and communicating with one another. This online environment is not about individuals looking for specific information. It doesn’t lend itself to direct sales. What it does lend itself to is brand building and consumer engagement. One of the big factors in brand building is repetition of exposure to the business. Social media ads are a nearly perfect method for achieving this repeated exposure. The business doesn’t need to buy clicks, just impressions and, depending on the social media platform, these impressions can be targeted to extremely specific demographics. The desired demographic will see the name and logo of the business over and over again. That business will eventually become part of the mental landscape of the intended demographic. So Social Media vs SEO is not a cut and dry debate, there are many factors to consider.

In addition to this brand building exposure, social media provides a venue for consumers to interact or engage with the brands they like. They can like a business or band or public and, in doing so, promote this business to their friends and acquaintances. They can also lodge a public complaint in real-time and, if a business is monitoring its social media, the business can respond in real- or near-to-real-time. This gives businesses a decided advantage in managing the fallout from customer complaints, where in years past the damage could accumulate beyond repair before the business knew a problem existed. Smart businesses use social media to post non-promotional content in order to draw customers into a kind of conversation, which becomes its own form of marketing.

Neither social media marketing nor SEO is fundamentally more important. On the topic of Social Media vs SEO, they are best deployed in tandem with one another to help build brand awareness on one side and to promote more traditional business goals, such as sales, on the other.