With all the talk and chatter about Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, it’s amazing how some advertisers are stuck on what they consider “good old fashioned advertising.” Exactly what that is, depends of course on whom you’re talking to.
The fact is, the two are not mutually exclusive. Social media and “traditional advertising” can still work hand-in-hand. And they actually work quite well together, thank you very much! You simply have to know what role each one plays and how to use them most effectively. That way you won’t be duplicating your efforts, and you’ll use each to its maximum effect.
With “traditional media” – which includes broadcast advertising, print and direct mail, you have an opportunity to do all types of marketing. You can build name awareness; create image advertising, present positioning to potential prospects and so much more. It’s jut like using advertising media the way they’ve always been used. You can also do promotional and price advertising to build immediate sales.
So what about social media, since you’re using broadcast and print to communicate with your customers? You use social media to connect with your customers! Here’s the difference; you don’t necessarily sell with social media. You provide content and information that helps your customers make informed buying decisions. You engage your customers and prospective customers in a dialogue that works both ways -back and forth. They can tweet about you and your products. They can post messages about you on Facebook. They can tell their LinkedIn audience about an experience they had with your company or products. You can’t do that with “traditional media.”
But remember, social media and traditional media are designed to work synergistically. Don’t think of them as mutually exclusive. So go ahead and use personalized direct mail, but support it with email blasts and Tweets. Go ahead and use broadcast advertising, but load your videos on YouTube and Tweet about them to your customer base. By all means do print advertising in newspapers, and if you have a highly vertical market in magazines as well, but at the same time post on Facebook, build a Facebook page.
Link you media to other media as well. If you’re paying to place banner ads on websites, make sure they link to your website. On your website’s landing page, make sure your customers can link over to other places where they can learn more about your products and services. The point is, the possibilities are endless when it comes to making social media and traditional media work together. These are just a few examples, but there are many, many more to consider!
The fact is, the two are not mutually exclusive. Social media and “traditional advertising” can still work hand-in-hand. And they actually work quite well together, thank you very much! You simply have to know what role each one plays and how to use them most effectively. That way you won’t be duplicating your efforts, and you’ll use each to its maximum effect.
With “traditional media” – which includes broadcast advertising, print and direct mail, you have an opportunity to do all types of marketing. You can build name awareness; create image advertising, present positioning to potential prospects and so much more. It’s jut like using advertising media the way they’ve always been used. You can also do promotional and price advertising to build immediate sales.
So what about social media, since you’re using broadcast and print to communicate with your customers? You use social media to connect with your customers! Here’s the difference; you don’t necessarily sell with social media. You provide content and information that helps your customers make informed buying decisions. You engage your customers and prospective customers in a dialogue that works both ways -back and forth. They can tweet about you and your products. They can post messages about you on Facebook. They can tell their LinkedIn audience about an experience they had with your company or products. You can’t do that with “traditional media.”
But remember, social media and traditional media are designed to work synergistically. Don’t think of them as mutually exclusive. So go ahead and use personalized direct mail, but support it with email blasts and Tweets. Go ahead and use broadcast advertising, but load your videos on YouTube and Tweet about them to your customer base. By all means do print advertising in newspapers, and if you have a highly vertical market in magazines as well, but at the same time post on Facebook, build a Facebook page.
Link you media to other media as well. If you’re paying to place banner ads on websites, make sure they link to your website. On your website’s landing page, make sure your customers can link over to other places where they can learn more about your products and services. The point is, the possibilities are endless when it comes to making social media and traditional media work together. These are just a few examples, but there are many, many more to consider!
