I am sure many of you are already aware of the fact that social media marketing can rake in free marketing through traditional media such as newspapers. However, it seems like most ignore the fact and the power of traditional media altogether. We all need to understand that marketing isn’t about selling products or services alone, it’s being able to capture that attention. Guess what? Traditional media such as newspapers, TV, radio, etc. has attention. True, social media is huge but why not ride on that wave and take it one level further and hit a home run by getting the most bang for your buck, that is if you have to spend a buck at all.

You see media isn’t limited to newspapers, TVs, radios, anchors, journalists, etc. anymore. We all have the power to use media today. The fact that social networks and social media are on the rise and new and innovative services lure us to make them a part of our daily lives, we are the media. We control what stays within the circle and what flows out of the circle to the masses. These services allow us to be heard, they are free and give us the opportunity to market ourselves quite easily without ever spending a dime. These platforms can be a stepping stool to reach the traditional media and reach to an even bigger crowd. What would you prefer – Buying a flip side ad on a frontpage of a popular magazine for $20,000 dollar or creating a strategy that works on the web for free and goes viral? Of course, you are going to opt in for the free stuff. The first thing this does is saves your marketing dollar which you can utilize to make your product/service better or develop something that accentuates the value of what you are providing to your end consumers.

I ended up a contract with one of my clients this year in January and one of the highlights was being mentioned on BBC. It was just a blog and the client’s sole goal was to earn revenue through banner ads (should shoot for more than banner ads) but that’s what he wanted. So all in all, the key here was to get the buzz going and get those stats peak. And boy did we get traffic? Within two months this new blog was over 400,000 uniques a month but that wasn’t enough. I wanted it on a major publication so we could reach out to the people that don’t really get their information from social media platforms. The site got mentioned on BBC! It was huge. That was the start of type in direct traffic and not to mention the best kind of traffic we wanted. It was featured on the web, on TV and publication and here we were trying to figure out where this sudden influx of type in traffic was coming from. The site now doesn’t generate much. My contract ended and I don’t work for the client anymore but the site could have been much more if there was more than just content and banner ads in mind. (I can’t mention the name of the site but will gladly direct you to my client if you want to verify ).

The point is we would have never been able to advertise on BBC, first there wasn’t enough money and second we were new and at the time nobody would have really even cared to look at us. How did we do it? Well our initial platforms were social networking sites and bookmarking sites. We created the buzz, we made content that rocked, we broke news before anyone else did, we stayed on track and kept an eye on long term goal rather than short term hype and there it was.

I wanted to make this a quick post but I love to talk (write in this case) so it ended up being longer than I planned. But do keep in mind that traditional media can’t be ignored. They’ve got the audience that pay attention. You build your community, engage with your clients and customers on social platforms on the web and leverage that. When you are trusted online and your stuff goes out into through traditional media, the trust factor that you have among your web peers will talk for you creating an even more robust effect. After all traditional media has the attention of us all.

Don’t just focus on getting traffic from the web and social media platforms, go beyond that. Shoot for the stars and you will see traffic, brand awareness or whatever it is that you are seeking closer, easier and much cheaper than you thought.

Although traditional media follows a “one to many model” remember that the audience of the traditional media will help spread the word. Once again, either through social media platforms or word of mouth.

Have your say.

image

Whether you are a marketer, a blogger or an individual simply trying to socialize on the web, the key to effective engagement and participation is only possible if you choose and execute.

During my early years I was guilty of it myself. I felt like I needed to have a presence on every social networking site and media platforms out there. Couple years later, my accounts are still there but they have been abandoned. I probably have an account on 75% of sites that allow some form of user participation and I don’t use them. I have an account but no updates. No participation. No engagment. No value. And without value your profile is a sinking ship that has almost no hopes of recovery.

Social media isn’t about being everywhere. It is about being where you can truly “be.” I have learned from my mistake and unless a service proves beneficial to me or my clients in some sort, I don’t have a reason to create an account. As most of you already know, most platforms are free but we end up paying in time. The amount of time we put in to participate, to interact and to add value. And we need to keep in mind that time is money. Therefore, these platforms aren’t really free. They take a substantial amount of time from our day to day life. Managing 50 accounts is simply impossible and to put it rudely, dumb.

Before you create an account make sure to analyze the platform, core group, discussions and activities that surrounds that particular platform. For example digg is one of the popular platforms. Everyone wants a front page on digg. However, if you are managing a site that deals with marketing or Search Engine Optimization, Digg isn’t really the platform you want to spend most of your time on. Your best bet here would be to choose Sphinn which caters more to SEO folks and marketing.

The key to effectively using any platform is how it can benefit you. I am a heavy twitter user cause I see how it can benefit me and my business. I use Facebook as well but not as actively. Unless I have a campaign to run for a client, I don’t really have a reason to set apart time to utilize that platform. I make sure I exist. I make sure I add value and interact with my friends there but it certainly doesn’t take a chunk of my time. Why don’t I use Facebook as actively? Cause to me the amount of time I put in on Facebook doesn’t really convert much. In simplest term, I choose not use Facebook as actively because there is not as high of a return, for me.

The main point I want to stress is do not become followers. Just cause someone is using twitter doesn’t mean you have to. Just cause someone is using LinkedIn doesn’t mean you have to. And just cause someone isn’t using Sphinn or some forum doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. It all comes down to what your goal is. There are hundreds of platforms out there and there is only one you. Analyze a platform before you plan on using it. See what you can get out of it and how it might benefit you personally or as a business. Once you have chosen make sure you execute. Execution is as important as your choice because without executing engagement and value there is no way you can gain recognition or create brand awareness. You might be able to create a hype that will have a short life but for long term reputation and recognition, there is only one way to succeed and it’s execution.

Choose and execute.

Those were my views and how I decide on where to spend my time on the web. Would love to hear your take on it.

image

The ultimate outcome of marketing is to influence action, and there is no better way to influence action than being part of the community.

According to dictionary.com, marketing is

1.the act of buying or selling in a market.

2.the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling.

That definition needs a little editing now that marketing has moved from the act of buying or selling in a market to engaging in a market. No where in that definition words “engagement” or “community” is to be found. Today, if I want to buy a product, I don’t just head out to the store. I usually turn to the online community to learn about the product. Facebook, twitter, forums, blogs, any form of social media that is out there I will make use of it before I decide on spending my money. This is exactly why businesses have started utilizing the social web by engaging with their target market. There are still a few that don’t see the value of it all, but for some it’s hard to break the monotony that the traditional marketing has set.

One of the first questions I get from my clients is – “How will this effect the bottomline? What’s the ROI?” I think it all depends on what ROI means to you. Do you calculate return on investment solely in monetary value or does brand loyalty and long term growth matter? If you are a business, you can’t always look into short term goal. The key is to get the word out there, it’s necessary in todays world to have a presence on the web and make “everybody” aware that you are out there.

Marketing isn’t just about creating an advertisement and asking people to buy. Do you fall for it when you see an ad on TV that says “Buy my product. It’s the best out there!” ? I hope not. I sure as hell don’t. Marketing is about engaging. Dell is a prime example of it. They have been able to boost their sales by millions by including twitter into their marketing strategy. When they take the time to answer our tweets, are they just being nice? No! Each tweet has an indirect marketing message which tells us “See. We are different than our competitors. We are here for you even though you aren’t shelling cash right away.”

Whether you are promoting a blog, a product, affiliate links, business as a whole or whatever it is that you are marketing, if you fail to engage in the market your competitors will beat you to dust. Here is the new definition of marketing which I think should be :

1. the act of engaging in a market with community building and engagement being primary goal and sales secondary.
2. the total of activities involved in being a community member of the target market and in the transfer of goods including advertising, shipping, storing, selling and utilizing different social media tools.

If you disagree let’s have a healthy discussion in the comments section. Beer is on me

image source