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A veteran PR executive, David Parmet has worked with diverse companies ranging from IBM to a Savile Row tailor and a South African vineyard. His current clients include several notable Internet businesses involved in blogging, podcasting and other forms of social media.
David has been interviewed on the impact of blogging and participatory media on marketing and public relations by national media, including National Public Radio's Marketplace, and has spoken at several conferences including Syndicate and the New Communications Forum.

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Sock it to ‘Em Socially: Explaining Furthermore Why Social Media Strengthens Campaigns

Written on
Nov 22, 2006 
Author
David Parmet  |
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Sock it to ‘Em Socially: Explaining Furthermore Why Social Media Strengthens Campaigns

If the metrics are eyeballs — how many eyeballs are seeing (not necessarily getting) the marketing message, then by all means, spend away and buy up all the 30-second spots you can get. But keep in mind that probably less than half your audience is even paying attention.

On the other hand, if you want a targeted and engaged audience, one that you know is relevant and paying attention, for the reasons I noted above, using social media makes sense. The audience is far smaller but the trade-off is a more highly targeted group of readers who are in fact paying attention to what’s being said and are therefore more amenable to hearing your message.

There are many ways you can approach a social media plan. You can pitch blogs like you would traditional media (in the public relations sense of pitching) but that’s the easy way. Stormhoek, a small South African vineyard decided to take an untraditional approach to its launch in the UK market and ask bloggers to sample and review the wine. The resulting buzz generated thousands of conversations on blogs and doubled sales of Stormhoek in one year. Instead of being just another wine trying to catch your attention in the wine shop, Stormhoek became ‘that bloggers’ wine.’

Now let’s take a step back. What if the choice wasn’t either / or, but how can traditional advertising and marketing be supported by targeted social media outreach? Fortunately for us there are many examples.

Dove’s Real Beauty campaign started with television and print ads and recently added a viral video on YouTube that drew more visitors to its web site than the earlier Super Bowl ad. The Apple Computer “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” ads are seen on TV but also available for viewing on the Apple web site. Mac enthusiasts on web sites and blogs like The Mac Observer, Think Secret and The Unofficial Apple Weblog spread the spots like insider information from Cupertino.

Of course an integrated approach, with public relations driving home the message in appropriate print, electronic and online and social media, makes the most sense. But if your budget is limited, you might want to try diving into social media to spread your message.





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