Guest post by Darla Mittler, CEO of Darla Mittler Document Magic.
There is a war being raged between traditional advertisers (print, radio, television) and advocates of social media platforms. Both camps make valid points in favour of their chosen methods of reaching new customers, yet both overlook the value of the other.
Traditional advertisers show little awareness of the practical use of social media. They see it as being in direct competition with them.
Social media enthusiasts don’t appear to understand that social media platforms are not the be all and end all of advertising.
Savvy businesses realize that there is room for both approaches. A business that relies on only one method of reaching and keeping customers will not experience their desired growth.
It is important for businesses to market themselves offline as well as online.
Traditional advertising is good for reaching a wide audience offline. The strength of traditional advertising is its ability to make more people aware of a product or service.
Social media is good for customer engagement. Businesses that use social media well understand that it is a chance for them to interact with their customers.
Proponents of social media do not help matters by telling their clients to pour their advertising budget into social media. A small portion of the client’s advertising budget should go to social media initiatives, but most of it should be coming from their personnel budget. Business owners need to comprehend the requirements of maintaining a social media presence. This means having someone on staff who can handle the interactions necessary to make effective use of social media.
Businesses have only themselves to blame for building inefficient enterprises. Instead of having two or three people to handle various tasks, they insist on having one person do all the work. Use your personnel wisely instead of like slaves. A burned out employee is of no use to anyone. Do a cost analysis on how much it costs to hire and train new employees. Put that money into keeping your staff and watch how your profits grow.
The bottom line is this: in this day and age your business needs both traditional advertising and social media interaction. One cannot replace the other.
Darla Mittler
President & CEO, Darla Mittler Document Magic
Darla Mittler Document Magic
Darla Mittler is President & CEO of Darla Mittler Document Magic. With a personal library of well over 1,000 physical books, over half a decade as a Mass Media Buyer for a major bookstore chain, and insights into e-publishing, Darla is ready to help authors bring their works to market.
