When used in conjunction with Traditional Media - Social Media can be an extremely powerful response-generating tool... and vice versa.
I have repeated that line ad nauseum over the last X number of years. I've said it to folks in the traditional media world and to those in the social media world as well. They look at me like I have three heads but when I tell them I bring both a traditional AND social media background and experience to the proverbial table, they realize I kind of know what I'm talking about.
Unfortunately many on both sides of the media aisle remain steadfast in their belief that theirs is the medium of choice; that theirs is the ONLY medium of choice.
I then tell these folks that they have more in common than they think... then they REALLY think I have three heads.
Someone just shared something with me that speaks directly to this point. It's an article that appeared on a Forbes.com blog entitled "It Takes Money To Make Money: How The New "Social" Media Is Like The Old "Media" Media"
The author of the post uses quotes from Anita Elberse, who teaches marketing at the Harvard Business School.
"Most of the time, you have to spend money to make money online," Elberse says. "This is not to say that viral hits can't happen of the blue. They do, but they are the exception."
Now truth be told she was focused solely on Internet Video and how one video goes viral while others languish in obscurity... but rest assured this line of thinking applies to ALL forms of online media - be it social or otherwise.
The correlation between money and popularity is true, Elberse says, not only for Hollywood blockbusters, but even for much more mundane products, like bicycles. "Without a budget, the chances of a video going viral are pretty slim," she says.
And as the blog post author states... "The correlation between online trailers that were popular and the movies or games with the biggest budgets was very strong, Elberse found. In effect, the videos that got watched the most on the Internet are those that bought their popularity through traditional offline advertising, especially on TV."
Let that last line resonate a bit with you... "...the videos that got watched the most on the Internet are those that bought their popularity through traditional offline advertising, especially on TV."
More from the blog post...
"Sometimes the link between offline promotion and online success is ignored by social media boosters, even though it is utterly obvious. For example, those remarkable Old Spice "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" commercials are wildly popular on YouTube, a fact often cited as evidence that the rules for marketing have supposedly been turned upside down by the Web. Overlooked is that the ad originally came to the world's attention via that haven of traditional media, network television-and during the Winter Olympics, among the most expensive moments on TV."
One last thing from the blog post...
"Elberse is hardly a foe of the Web and social media. She says they have much to offer, and urges companies to take advantage of them. With the caveat, though, that when it comes to reaching customers, "you can't do it on the cheap.""
So what's the moral here, kids?
The age old adage of "to make money you have to spend money" is still true, even in our social media crazed world.
Yes, you will come across those from the SM side of the aisle who claim that Social Media will cure all your advertising/marketing ails and do it much cheaper than traditional media.
You will also come across folks from the traditional side claiming that Social Media is a waste of time; there are no proven ways to use it effectively, you can't track and measure results, and on and on...
But remember that other old adage about skinning a cat and more than one way and all that?
It's the same principle!
There's more one way to reach your audience, to peddle your wares, to hawk your products, blah, blah, blah...
And...
To do it right and by "it" I mean create and implement a real, honest to goodness advertising/marketing campaign takes money... and time and a healthy dose of each, so you better be prepared going in...
Do you agree with me?
Or do you think one "media" is better than the other?
Or, depending on the product, service, ware, etc... you may not need to use ALL media avenues?