Can Social Media co-exist with traditional marketing strategies and techniques
I've been attending a variety of seminars on Social Media, as well as reading a couple of good books on the subject. What I'm finding is that traditional marketing seems to be adding social media to their arsenal, whereas, those who focus on social media / networking tend to suggest that there's is the way of the future and traditional marketing will fade away. Whose right and who's left?There are, interestingly, 313 comments at this time...the original question was posted seven months ago, which shows a high and commendable level of engagement of those in the Social Media Today group.
However, what many fail to remember, particularly in fora such as the LinkedIn groups and this very blog, is that most people are still offline. They are not 'connected'. They are not 'social'. So social media can reach millions and millions of people in ways that were not possible before, but if you only focus on social media, you miss the millions and millions who prefer face-to-face, print and broadcast for their information and entertainment.
An example is virtual worlds. Most of the LinkedIn generation are not in virtual worlds... but a well considered and well implemented campaign in Second Life or another world will reach those people far better than a newspaper advert, for example. And, of course, the newspaper ad will reach the millions who don't know their avatar from their emoticon.
The future is not one thing or the other. It never can be. The future is everything. That makes it increasingly difficult for anyone who professes expertise in marketing to truly be an expert in all areas of advertising and delivery - which is another question entirely.
In the new world of old media, new media and social media, should roles be clearly defined or should we expect experts to be an expert across all platforms?
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