Social vs.Traditional Media

Last week I was at a Social Media Influencers lunch in Indianapolis.

I was nominated for one of the awards and thought it would be fun to go, which it was.

However, I see a disconnect between those who are in the internet/social media business and those that are in the traditional media business.

See, I also serve on the Board of Directors for the American Advertising Federation/Fort Wayne; and in that role have gained a reputation as the social media guy.

Which I find a bit interesting since, I am in the radio business and my fellow board members are mostly in the advertising agency business, which should be leading the way into social media for their clients. But it's not that simple.

My interest in social media is because of my personality, my curiosity, and my passion, and that has led me to learn, explore, examine, teach and help others with this social media thing. I also like to look at the big picture from a consumers view point which helps me to provide a unique viewpoint for my clients.

My hope and desire is that the social media folks and the traditional media folks will stop competing or ignoring each other and start working together. And this is happening more and more.

Here's how and why we need both:

Television, Radio, Billboards and even Print are still being watched, listened to, and read more than most social media sites.

The leaders on the web are Facebook and Google. But instead of dumping advertising dollars into these two websites AND abandoning traditional media, you need to do both and fine tune it for the future.

If you are using traditional media, start including social media contacts within the ads. Use social media as a communication tool and customer service tool. If you need guidance or help, contact me at Scott at ScLoHo.net.