Before we start, most important thing is – social media and digital marketing are always changing, and that is why you need to read, learn, evolve and experiment constantly. 

Social media marketing, in it’s core meaning, is a process of gaining website traffic or attention through various social media sites. You can check detailed explanation - The Beginner's Guide to Social Media on Moz

Through digital marketing, brands and products get promoted via electronic media. Possibly the biggest adventage it offers, compared to traditional marketing, is the ability to follow results of their marketing campaigns in real time, therefore, allowing them to adapt strategies at a great speed.

Don’t mix things up – social media marketing and digital marketing are NOT the same thing!

The difference is that social media marketing is just one brick in the wall of digital marketing.

Digital marketing has two main components:

Internet Marketing (email marketing, social media, Pay per Click advertising etc.)

Non Internet Marketing (TV, radio, SMS)

Read full differences here or check the picture. 

What should I choose? Digital marketing or social media marketing?

Like in all, it depends on your needs. But I’ll try to help you even if you can’t make a decision.

Digital marketing is bigger and covers more ground because it works in all the realms (Internet and non Internet), while social media marketing is limited only to the Internet. Always go bigger if possible and choose the full package.

Example: You have a product that you want to push. Creating content on you website about the product is a great place to start, share it on social media sites but you can also share it on forums, discussions and websites all over the Internet. That way you use the full capacity of what digital marketing has to offer.

In the end, since social media marketing is a huge part of digital marketing, so never try to leave it out of your campaign.

Hopefully, this intro guide helped you. For any questions, write in the comments below. More detailed posts are coming soon.

Follow me on Twitter @Stef_Ivanovic and check my older work - here.