By Shannon Cohn | Contrary to popular belief, you cannot get by with social media alone. It is possible to make it in the world of business without social media, but it doesn't work the other way around. Unfortunately, many startup companies and get too excited about the possibilities of social media that they forget about traditional marketing. After all, seeing an article go from 5 tweets to 100 tweets is very exciting. It shows you, clearly, that your article is doing well. This is appealing and looks to be very important, but many business fall into this trap.
The truth is, tweets and social media results are important. They have their place in the world of marketing, but traditional approaches are not to be forgotten. When I say "traditional approaches" I'm talking about commercials, newspaper advertisements, holding seminars, etc. Although these may not seem as new and exciting as Internet marketing, they offer things that the Internet simply cannot:
Top 3 Things Only Traditional Media Can Offer
As old as traditional media may seem, it has become a hidden gem. If you're starting a new business or looking to change your current strategy, consider some of the things you simply cannot accomplish through social media alone:
1. It can offer you more credibility than Internet marketing.
Traditional media is considered credible simply because it has always been so reliable. Few pick up a newspaper and question whether or not they are reading the truth. The radio and news also offers factual information that people can trust. The Internet on the other hand is filled with spam. You can find a great article online, but it's hard to know whether or not it came from a credible source.
2. It gives you a larger audience.
Completely ignoring traditional media means ignoring everyone that doesn't use social media. As hard as it is to believe, social media and Internet marketing is a fairly new concept. Those who didn't grow up with this technology likely still prefer traditional media. Some researches say as many as 35 percent of people in the US get their news offline. This makes advertising on TV and in the newspaper extremely important.
3. Traditional media is less expensive now than ever before.
Everyone knows that social media is completely free and traditional media is not. However, traditional media can offer you a great price with a higher gain when compared to social media. In fact, some places now offer traditional media services free of charge. If you can give back to their company in some way (usually through social media), then you're good to go.
It's important to understand that some companies can survive on social media alone. Blogs for example do wonderfully using nothing but the Internet. However, larger businesses have a much more difficult time. It is the larger businesses who need to consider some of the important aspects of marketing offline more-so than the smaller businesses.
It's also important to realize that social media marketing and traditional marketing go hand in hand. They work very well together, so it's a good idea to try and blend the two whenever possible. Do you have any tips or tricks for marketing the "old fashioned" way?
Photo Credit: imwrite.com
Shannon Cohn is also a writer and marketer for Calvin Klein Underwear. She also writes for various blogs and marketing communities giving startup companies both financial and marketing advice.
