Traditional Media vs. Social Media
I recently came across an article online by Danny Brown, The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Media, that compares and contrasts traditional media (TV, radio, or print ads) and the currently popular social media (Facebook, Twitter, myspace, or Youtube).
This article, titled “Yes, You CAN Measure “Traditional Media”, seeks to remind marketers that traditional media can be just as easily tracked and evaluated as social media, and shouldn’t be pushed aside by technological advances in advertising.
As the article argues, although social media is cheaper and more efficient in reaching a wide range of potential consumers, traditional media is considered to be more effective and also has many different ways to measure and evaluate advertising success. As the author explains, a relatively successful method of tracking the marketing success of print ads involves placing a URL and a discount code, exclusive to the flyer, which the viewer can use to print out coupons online. By using Google Analytics, marketers can follow up and gain insight on their campaign by tracking website views. This can prove to be an efficient and effective way to measure success, and as the Google Analytic’s website states, marketers can learn to “write better-targeted ads, strengthen their marketing initiatives and create higher converting websites.”
Whether marketing campaigns decide to rely on social media to get their product introduced or promoted to potential customers, or promote through traditional media is entirely up to each individual company. The point is to not forget that there are many ways to market a product, and that the most successful method will depend entirely on the nature of the product and the market segment it is targeting.