Social Media: Traditional Views

Finding a way to branch out from traditional views of advertising can be difficult. There is so much information available about potential returns through newspaper ads, commercials and the radio. Utilizing these new avenues of social media requires a much more innovative approach. Everyone is tired of hearing gimmicks, sales pitches and clever slogans. While there will always be a place for those, no one wants to see an ad for a new shampoo appear on their Facebook wall. What people want out of a business that is using social media is to be a part of a community. As we learned in class, the most successful business locally that uses social media is Bear River Health Department. That is because they actively take part in conversations that are relevant to their business.

Companies create a Facebook profile with the goal to generate as many “Likes” as they can, but to what end? The only businesses that I have liked on Facebook are the ones that I have a personal connection to, or someone I know does. This is where new ideas are needed. Some companies spend upwards of 20 percent on their annual revenue in advertising. Social media is so popular because it is free. But imagine if a business took some of their advertising budget and poured it into Facebook to create incentives for people “Liking” them. It could go a long way.

It is a fact that people respond to incentives. Everyone enjoys getting something for free, but that isn’t the only way to draw a crowd. There are tons of niches that business harness to help spread awareness or grow their business. People respond to humor, creativity, causes, exceptional people, and the environment to name a few. I like this Old Spice video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE

They were transparent that they wanted you to buy their product but they did it in a humorous way.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2011/09/01/how-social-media-can-mesh-with-traditional-corporate-it/

This article spoke of the impact that social media will have on the IT landscape. Social media sites are saving businesses money. Instead of hiring a whole team of people to keep all of their employees informed about what is going on, employees do it themselves through Facebook.

http://www.jeffbullas.com/2011/01/24/why-social-and-traditional-media-marketers-should-stop-acting-like-fighting-lovers/

This one is awesome, it goes over some of the pros and cons of both traditional marketing and social media marketing.