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Why Advertise on Social? pt. 1

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Let’s face it, almost the entire world is on social media. We’ve all seen the statistics. Most of us are plugged-in and engaged all the time.

So why are so many business owners and executive teams so unaware of the power of reaching and engaging with more users than ever possible before? I am constantly having conversations with business leaders from around the country that define their marketing efforts by putting up a billboard or running some commercials on the local radio station. 

Believe me, traditional media resources are still very powerful methods for reaching users and delivering a message. These are, and always will be, valid forms of communication, and they aren’t going anywhere soon. But there is simply so much more to modern marketing than throwing some ads out there and hoping something sticks. 

The biggest shortcomings of traditional media resources (tv, radio, print, billboard, etc.) are: 

  1. They fail to create a two way conversation. It is the advertiser talking at a prospective customer, not with that customer. Social media opens up a conversation with the world around you, and thus builds a sense of understanding and trust. 
  1. It’s noisy. Very noisy. Image how many times during a typical day that an advertiser puts a message in front of you? Eventually even the most interested buyers become numb and turn off. We all do it. 
  1. Traditional media cannot provide actual data as to who viewed and engaged with your content. This is a very serious problem in that you have no idea how many users saw it, if they had interest enough to take action, where and when those users engaged, and if that customer ultimately bought something. Data is king. Guessing is for suckers. 
  1. This may sound silly, but that is where the people are. Having the ability to target and speak to the right users that are likely to be interested in what you are selling can be the difference in a making a sale. We no longer have to wait for customers to walk through the door. We can now go to them, in the most convenient times and places, at the moment they are ready to make a purchasing decision.
  1. Traditional media and advertising depends solely on being at the right place and time to reach an audience. For example, if you pay for a 30 second commercial on the evening news, you have to hope the right viewers are watching at the moment your spot airs. But what about all the viewers that weren’t watching at that moment? Too bad, maybe next time. That is a pretty inefficient way to reach customers. 
  1. Social media marketing is much, much cheaper than buying ad time in the before mentioned media resources. For a fraction of the cost of placement, you can reach a much larger audience, target the right users, and measure how your content performed. To us, it’s a no brainer. 

In the next article I will explain how to successfully advertise on social media channels, the difference between organic vs paid content, and how to effectively measure performance.