Website VS Social Media: Many business owners assume that having a brand page on social media is enough, eliminating the need for a dedicated website. However, this isn't true. Both a website and social media pages are equally important.
In this post, A&W Digital will explore the differences between website and social media pages and how both can work together to drive your business forward.

Comparison Table: Website VS Social Media
Brand Website | Social Media | |
Ownership | Own by you | Own by that platform |
Brand Image Control | O | X |
SEO | O | X |
Flexibility | High | Low |
Shopping Features | O | X |
Data Integration | Extensive | Limited |
Interaction | Lower | Higher |
Information Delivery | Slower | Faster |
4 Benefits of Running Social Media
Social media has high communication power. Making good use of social media can serve as a platform for you to connect and engage with customers. It can also boost your online visibility and introduce your brand to a wider audience. Here are the benefits of running social media for you:
Content Sharing and Promotion
Publishing different forms of content on social media for promotion helps increasing brand awareness as more people can see your content when browsing social media.
Interaction and Engagement
Comment features provided by social media platforms allow both brands and users to leave comments under the content. Some platforms provided advanced interactive activities like polls. These features can strengthen the relationship between the brand and target customers, provide valuable insights into target customers' needs and opinions.
Building Brand Loyalty
With the use of social media, you can build a sense of resonance with potential customers. You can share content that reflects your brand's values, information, and product information in order to increase visitors' understanding of your brand. It can eventually turn them into long-term supporters of the brand.
Targeted Advertising
With the targeted advertising tools (e.g. Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads) offered by social media platforms, you can define your audience based on their interests and in addition, create attractive advertising content tailored to them. With the tools and tailor-made advertising contents, your content and products can reach the people who are most likely to be interested effectively.

Problems with using only social media and ignoring your website
Using social media for promotion provide brands benefits just mentioned. However, if you use only social media and ignoring other only promotion channel, the following problems will arise:
Unable to show brand characteristics
Social media platforms have limited customization options, making it difficult for brands to fully showcase their unique identity. For example, if your brand's theme color is orange, Facebook page's default blue theme won't create the strong first impression you want. This also makes it harder for viewers to distinguish your brand from competitors due to the failure to creating a deep first impression. Additionally, consumers often research online before making a purchase. Without an official website, your brand may come across as less professional and trustworthy.
Content is hard to find
Social media is flooded with pages and users constantly posting new content, creating a high volume of information. As a result, older posts quickly get pushed down and become harder to find. Even if you create thoughtful and engaging content, it can easily be "washed away" and fail to reach your target audience effectively.
Lack of management system
Using social media as a sales platform can complicate the purchasing process and order management. While it might be manageable to manually process individual orders when your online store is just starting out, this approach becomes unsustainable as your customer base grows. It becomes harder to track order details, increasing the risk of mistakes such as missing orders or shipping errors.
By using a website as your online store, you can streamline order processing with a more systematic approach. This not only makes fulfillment more efficient but also reduces time costs and minimizes errors, ensuring a smoother experience for both your business and your customers.
Limited data integration
Social media pages offer limited data analytics. If you only rely on social media to run your online store, you'll have access to only a narrow range of data, making it difficult to consolidate insights and plan for long-term growth.
In contrast, a website-based store can generate detailed reports, such as order histories, inventory levels, and customer information. These insights allow you to better understand customer purchasing habits and product performance, enabling you to adjust your marketing strategies accordingly.
Additionally, you can use the data to build a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, strengthening your brand's relationship with customers and enhancing their overall experience.

3 Benefits of Building a Website Alongside Social Media Management
Social media pages and websites are both essential for promoting and marketing your brand. Earlier, we discussed the benefits of managing social media pages. Now, let's explore benefits of building a website alongside social media management:
Building brand image and increasing credibility
Besides using social media for sharing content and building your brand's image, making website allow you to provide customers with more comprehensive and valuable information. Beyond showcasing products or services, your website can highlight your brand's values and set you apart from competitors. It can increase the credibility, helping consumers better understand and trust your brand.
Having your own website
Although you can use your logo as a profile picture and create on-brand posts on social media, the platform ultimately controls your page. Content may even be restricted if it violates platform guidelines. A website, however, is entirely under your ownership. You can design it to reflect your brand's style and include all relevant business information. Furthermore, social media platforms can occasionally experience downtime. When that happens, your website becomes a reliable alternative where customers can still shop and access information without interruptions.
Improving search rankings and attracting organic traffic
Social media pages are great for capturing the attention of platform users, but attracting a wider audience often requires paid advertisements, which can strain your marketing budget. A website, on the other hand, allows you to optimize for SEO to gain organic traffic. By improving site structure, using targeted keywords, and building backlinks, your website can rank higher on search engine results pages. This increases visibility and traffic, reducing marketing costs while achieving your business goals.

Conclusion
Both social media pages and websites have their unique features and advantages. Relying only on social media pages to run your business may limit your brand's long-term growth. Creating a website gives you more control and enhances your brand's professionalism. By having both a website and social media pages, you can build a more competitive and well-rounded brand image.
At A&W Digital, our professional team offers customer-oriental digital marketing services to help you achieve your goals through effective digital strategies. We prioritize communication, transparency, and expertise to maintain our clients' trust. We are committed to providing high-quality services and are focused on helping you succeed. Our digital marketing services include:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Responsive Web Design (RWD)
Social Media Marketing (SMM)
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