Social media platforms can be a waste of time or a source of income depending on how you make use of your online presence. Some people waste a lot of time on social media while others have used the same sites to become billionaires.
Mark Ritson highlights the revolutionary nature of social media on a person to person basis, but argues that when the brands get involved, by definition they are not welcome. So further he questions, why do marketers spend so much time on social media?
Statistics show that over 1 billion people have Instagram, however only 25% of smartphone users actively use Instagram. Furthermore, Ritson stated that 66% of Australians don’t follow brands on social media and out of that left-over percentage; only 94% of those consumers follow an average of 1 brand. So how effective is social media, and is traditional media a lot more underrated than what we may realise?
Social media – Do you find yourself following brands on Instagram or Facebook? As the name suggests, social media is used for social to social contact through a digital medium… and sadly, brands are the 3rd wheel.
SO…Gone are the days of traditional advertising? The answer. NO!
We forget how much we are exposed to traditional media on a day to day basis. My journey from home to uni, without even realising I am exposed to an enormous amount of traditional media! Radio – If you’re like me, you enjoy listening to the radio on your drive to work. This is still a very effective channel of traditional marketing.
We have all heard about the famous Oreo Ad that played during the Super Bowl. The reach for this ad was 64 thousand people. Which may seem like a decent number, but in reality, 40 million Americans buy Oreos every year. That’s 0.02% of their target market that were reached.
In some ways, using social media to conduct market research about your consumers is a great idea. It’s a great way to gather qualitative research- it’s basically a giant digital focus group. However, marketers seem to be spending more on these platforms, even though it may not work for their brand. Why? Because everyone else is doing it!
THE POWER OF CONFORMITY!
I personally believe traditional marketing is still alive. However, it’s just not as popular because marketers believe social media is the way to advertise in this digital age. All I can say is if a company wants to establish a creative impact, traditional mediums are important to consider. They have the reach, create the impact and build the value for a brand. Therefore – marketers, don’t forget about the basics. Social media marketing is good for some things, but businesses should not solely rely on it as their only marketing strategies.
Do you think traditional marketing is becoming outdated? Or is it still just as relevant today even with the presence of social media?
Z/V 
I always though traditional media was starting to become outdated, however after doing some readings I’ve realised that it is still stronger than ever, with things like billboards still being extremely useful for marketers. However as us millennials and even younger generations start becoming independent adults, I believe we will see less of things like tvs and newspapers. Great read Zoe!
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I thought the same thing Michelle, and then I also did some reading and came to the same conclusions! I think many people are starting to underestimate the power of traditional marketing. I understand that as time changes and technology becomes much more prevalent in our lives that many brands think it is the only way to grasp consumers attention, however we don’t realise how effective traditional marketing can still be! I still listen to the radio in my car everyday, and without realising I am exposed to hundreds of different ads, as well as through billboards on my drive to work, and on the train platforms and stations to and form uni!
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Great read Zoe! I don’t think traditional marketing is becoming outdated, I think it’s just becoming less and less used because it is harder to track results, compared to the new, flashy social media and digital streams. I think it also depends on the type of people you are trying to target when deciding whether digital or more traditional channels are relevant. Although they are still relevant now, I believe we will see less traditional marketing in the future.
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Agreed Sophie! I think a combination of both social media and traditional marketing is important. I think companies need to really consider who they are targeting and how best to target them. Some traditional methods may work better for certain companies and products, where as other companies may benefit more from social media platforms.
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Interesting read Zoe! I don’t think traditional marketing is becoming outdated either, I just think that certain brands have a narrow audience, and social media marketing is exceptional for reaching that narrow audience in a cheap way. It can be expensive to use the traditional marketing techniques such as television or billboards due to having such a mass audience, where it isn’t as effective. However, traditional marketing is still fantastic for big mass campaigns that have a wide audience reach!
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Thanks Jacqui! I definitely agree with you. I think that traditional marketing can be more costly to a business, which is why many may be moving over to social media platforms to market. However I think companies need to take a step back and stop following whats on “trend” and focus on marketing in a way that is the most beneficial and cost effective way for them!
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A very interesting topic ! I wonder how marketing techniques will continue to change over generations, as social media is becoming much more prominent in people’s lives – particularly children and teenagers growing up around it. When I think of traditional marketing methods like billboards for example, I have to wonder if they’re becoming less effective, with people constantly looking down at their phones. And with social media marketing being relatively cheap, it’s easy to get frequent advertisements to very specific, target audiences. However, I personally find social media marketing to be invasive, and I find I’m much less likely to purchase products that have been advertised this way. Does anyone else feel this way, or is it just me?
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Having first hand knowledge of the ever changing market within the outdoor advertising space, I am seeing massive changes including interactive shopping centre signage promoting product which they intuitively know you are interested in and huge digital signs which change every 10-20 seconds dependant upon traffic flows. Commercial building owners are benefiting from millions of dollars from signage companies seeking the next high profiles site. Outdoor signage as a promotional platform will continue to work alongside other forms of social media.
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