New Media, Social Media and Your Small Business: Pay Attention or Pay Too Much

Have you really been paying attention?
What are your customers paying attention to? The Newspaper or the newspaper’s website.
How can people watch TV if they’re updating their Facebook account? Do they open up the yellow pages or just type it into Google?

Recently social media sites like Twitter.com, Tagged.com and Ning reported giant year-over-year audience gains at 343%, 330%, and 251%, respectively. Facebook had 39,000,000 unique visitors last month and MySpace.com held steady with 59,400,000  visitors. Google is used at least once a day by 800,000,000 people across the globe.
Meanwhile traditional media is in a free fall. The Richmond Times-Dispatch is down to 160,000 subscribers and the national average circulation for dailies is at a 62 year low. In other words, newspaper subscription rates are lower now than they were at the end of WWII.

The Nielsen television ratings and Arbitron radio ratings continue to fall rapidly. Katie Couric’s audience is half of what Dan Rather’s was on the CBS Evening News just after few years.

Look what’s happened to the prime time television audience numbers in the last 15 years….



If these statistics don’t prove the importance of new media marketing, consider what Barack Obama did in the recent presidential election…he leveraged new media and social media to deliver his campaign message and bring an astounding 8 million new voters, of all ages, to the polls.

If you want more customers, you need to do 2 things: find out where their attention is focused and then grab their attention with a good message. Your company may have a good message, but if you’re spending thousands and thousands of dollars on traditional advertising like Yellow Page and newspaper ads,  then you’re literally wasting your time and your money.
So if your business is trying to cast a wider net and attract new customers, why wouldn't you want to get people's attention or at the very least put your message out where people are paying attention? For most business owners, new media marketing may be the way. 

New Media Douchebags ...or Social Media "Consultant"

Yes I have been called a douche bag. I have even been called a consultant. But unlike the guys described in this video, we actually WORK for a living. For what it's worth, I found this to be a really funny spin on the CommonCraft "in Plain English" series.

The point here is well-taken. I read Meatball Sundae recently by Seth Godin and he describes a "new media marketing" director in the foreword who sounds alot like a "new media douche bag." Godin's point of the book is be careful not to jump on the latest fad (and mix methods) in your marketing. And KommonKraft's point in the video is well-taken... certain social media-type "consultants" have tried to hijack the phrase "new media." These "know it alls" have recently started crawling out of the woodwork, quitting their jobs as web programmers and cell phone store managers and becoming SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANTS. They post, poke, tweet etc. and claim to teach others how to poke, post and tweet....

The client says "yay!" but after few months, their asking themselves, "What did we just pay for?
Most companies really need to focus on all the stuff that is broken FIRST, then move forward with a social media plan. Most small companies think they can fix their brand and make MEGA MONEY by hiring a SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT. But Godin is right, it's just like putting whipped cream and cherries on the top of pile of meatballs...

anti-smoking ads, from around the world

I found these ads online, all centered around youth smoking prevention, and was fascinated with the different approaches used to combat teen smoking in other parts of the globe. I think one of the best ones was made right here in Richmond, Virginia, by our friends at Barber-Martin.

Surprise in the Netherlands


A Little Limp in England


Tar in Australia


"What's your excuse?" VTSF (Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation)

"You want ME to be the turkey?"-Robert De Niro

Here is a funny commercial that features Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal in preparation for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Interesting spin on promoting New York City tourism.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Butter commercial-1956

A scrumptious message from the American Dairy Association.

My how the times have changed.

Talking Snowflakes from Utah

I saw this 30 second spot on T.V. the other evening and was instantly pulled in, yet didn't really "get it" as a whole.

On one hand, I like the whole personification of the flakes, somewhat obtuse outfits and enjoyed the use of humor to promote tourism. On the other, I felt like this was a hybrid cousin of the Happy Cows California cheese campaign. I am looking forward to seeing where this will go.
Joshua

Children, Incoporated Takes New Approach With YouTube Video

Children, Incorporated is putting a fresh spin on child sponsorship with the release of the Wingman,a webisode which shows that helping children in need is a cool thing to do. Children, Incorporated is using New Media marketing methods to target a younger audience and point out that sponsoring a child isn’t financially out of reach for anyone at just $28 a month.

This proactive approach by the non-profit organization recognizes the effectiveness of targeting younger consumers through social media sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and many more. Children, Incorporated is turning to New Media to show affluent Generation Xers that while sponsoring a child is a generous and kind thing to do, it is also rewarding, fun and inexpensive.

Children, Incorporated is putting their new voice in front of the target audience by placing Wingman on more than 150 video upload, Social Media and New Media websites. To see the video, click here or here.

For additional information about Children, Incorporated, call Director of Marketing and Donor Development Liz Sauer at 800.538.5381.