Social Media is Not Enough!
Jay Ehert, author of the Marketing Spot blog says he is tired of social media. Like me, his roots are in traditional marketing. In last week’s podcast he reminds us to build our foundation. Even in a world were everyone is talking about Social Media, do the basics first. Remember to focus on:
- Branding
- Customer Experience
- Word of Mouth
- Traditional Advertising and Promotion
It isn’t a either or world. Just as TV added new dimensions to advertising for small business owners 70 years ago, so does Social Media today.
In my opinion… social media is just enough rather than not enough. If you build a foundation, social media can add an entire new dimension in the world of business communication. The negative ramifications of how Jay Ehert goes about talking of “being tired” of social media is just that.. negative.
The new dimension of social media marketing is strengthening a world where traditional marketing is becoming weaker.
I didn’t see Jay’s video as negative. I think his point – is many people, particularly marketers chase the next ” shiny new toy” Right now social media is that toy.
While it has some great benefit, it is not the answer for every business. Some product categories will still see very significant, positive impact from traditional media. For many small businesses, adding social media makes sense as the supplement, not the core.
It isn’t an either or, Radio didn’t die when Television emerged, it changed. The same is true today.
I think the importance is in education. Whether or not businesses are “using” social media for marketing… they need to start educating themselves in the impact of digital media in the coming years.
While there are important basics in traditional marketing, social media is here to stay and will continuously grow an change. I think there is an undeniable generational gap in how marketing is thought about because of advances in technology.
It is about making informed choices, teaching clients and marketers to identify good opportunities for each media, and not simply jumping to social media because it is cool, hip or new.
while there is a “young” bias for social media, there is a surprising amount of activity for the right products using Facebooks as your vehicle to reach female boomers.
The rules change, almost daily, and you have to continue to learn, and relearn.