To Tweet or to TV?

Traditional vs. Social Media Marketing

Of course we all know that the best and most cost efficient way to advertise and promote your organization or business is through decorated apparel and promotional products. Shameless plug. Sorry about that. But there are also numerous ways a business/organization can get its name out there. There's the traditional advertising mediums such as TV, radio, newspapers, Yellow Pages, etc. but there's also a "new" form of advertising called Social Media Marketing. I'm sure most of you have already heard of MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogger...the list can go on and on. I was watching the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson last night and Michael Douglas (Catherine Zeta-Jones' hubbie) was a guest and he called the site MyFace which is the perfect example of how people have heard of social networking sites but don't exactly know what they are or the differences between them.
A lot of us or people we know have these pages and use it to find old friends or to keep in touch with loved ones. But these pages can also be a great marketing tool for a business or organization. You can create a company blog on blogger (like this one) to share information about your industry and let your customers know the latest and greatest about what's going on with your company instantaneously. Your Facebook page or Twitter page is an excellent way for you to interact with your target market on a more personal level so that they are comfortable doing business with you before they even step foot in your door.
The key difference between traditional advertising mediums and social media marketing is that TV, radio, newspapers cater to the masses and is an 'interruption' means of advertising. Commercials interrupt you while you're watching or listening to your favorite shows and hope that you'll stick around to listen to their message. Social Media Marketing is a 'participation' form of advertising. Your clients, customers, fans and want to hear from you and have chosen to opt-in to see/read what you have to say. The people on your fan page on Facebook and following you on Twitter have an interest on what's going on with your organization and have given you permission to speak with them.
By no means am I suggesting that businesses stop advertising through traditional means as they can still be very effective. I'm just saying that there are a lot of great FREE advertising tools out there so it's not a bad idea to check them out. With that being said, become a fan of ours on Facebook or follow us on Twitter! The links are to your right...hope to see you there!