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Incorporating Social Media into Traditional Marketing

Guest post by: Faith Seekings

Article Overview: It has been suggested by social media enthusiasts that by using it, businesses no longer need what is known as traditional marketing tools, i.e. business cards, web sites, etc. I believe incorporating social media into traditional marketing will enhance the ‘brick and mortar’ of traditional marketing. People still need business cards for face-to-face meetings, web sites provide essential company information and services provided. People want/expect more than a sales pitch in a tweet to encourage them to use your services.

Incorporating Social Media into Traditional Marketing

In preparation for our March ‘09 Social Media seminar with Scott Stratten, I had to come up with a way to connect the idea with what we do – traditional marketing and design. Considering social media is another execution of your brand the answer was easy – the same consistency and consideration applies. We wanted to help our clients navigate this new tool and find small ways to begin incorporating the ideas into their marketing tools.

‘Brick and mortar’ and Social Media do Mix

Social media enthusiasts who are really keen on it suggest businesses don’t need traditional websites or other tools anymore, I totally disagree. I believe keeping the “brick and mortar” establishes credibility and provides a means to find information. You still need a business card when meeting people in person.

That said, it is a great idea to incorporate social media and/or the driver behind it into your websites and other marketing tools! The core of social media is sharing information. Those who provide help are received better than those who simply promote themselves. Many clients automatically want to have their websites feature how long they’ve been in business, why they are so great and list all the services they provide. We are working with Rapport clients to change that focus to what the client gets out of it. Benefits to their clients, not services from X business. We also encourage clients to provide useful tips and information with no strings attached, demonstrating they know what they are talking about.

Social Networking Uses

Recruiting firms used to focus on full-time permanent placement, due to the current economy, they are looking to promote their contract placement services. Existing clients don’t even know they do this. Instead of sending an email blast saying ‘Hey, did you know we did contract placement, buy from us’, they could send one along the lines of ‘How to reduce overhead by using contract staff instead of full-timers.’ It could be a short article explaining the benefits, what to look out for, etc. The call to action would be, ‘If you have any questions about using contract staff, please call XXX.’ See what I mean? To go a step further, if you also had this article as a blog post, you could invite people to comment on it, tell their stories of contract placement.

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Article Tags: brick and mortar, business card, consistency, contract placement, credibility, economy, email blast, enthusiasts, execution, font weight, full time, marketing tools, media seminar, meeting people, recruiting firms, rsquo, scott stratten, social networking, traditional marketing, websites feature



Related Forum Posts
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff
Re: ANA Survey Says ... - [quote="GT Bulmer":3tfz6j3x]Which discipline will offer your brand the largest opportunity for growth? - 28% Social media integration - 19% Grassroots, viral public relations - 17% Traditional 30-second spots - 16% Web advertising - 7% One-page ads, newspaper/magazine - 7% Direct marketing - 5% Radio[/quote:3tfz6j3x] Hi GT, Interesting info you've presented! But what exactly is "Social Media Integration"?
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - [quote="WebBizIdeas.com":gvtxsu7g]Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff[/quote:gvtxsu7g] Hi Jeff, Thanks for the suggestion. Why don't you start a new post (with a poll) to see if there's enough interest in your idea for a social media section?
Re: Should Evan add a "Social Media Marketing" category to the f - Hi, Online Marketing would be a great title, and having sub categories would make it even better, there would plenty of categories to choose from, Social Media, SEO, Article Marketing and yes even Affiliate Marketing to name just a few, great looking site btw Jeff, take care, Carol
Re: Should Evan add a "Social Media Marketing" category to the f - Just as an update, Evan has extended the poll's expiration date and says he'd like to see at least 25 "yes" votes before implementing the new category. Moreover, it would probably be called "Online Marketing" instead of Social Media Marketing".


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