BLENDING SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING WITH YOUR TRADITIONAL MARKETING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

It’s November, which means it’s time to get into holiday marketing mode if you have not started already.

In a former life I worked in print advertising. This time of year was our busiest (still is) and most profitable for the newspapers I worked at. Businesses crammed to get as many ads as possible into the paper and spent more money than they did the rest of the year. It seemed they saved all their marketing dollars for the last 2 months of the year.

Enter social media marketing and the whole holiday marketing game has changed. Newspaper advertising (and pretty much all print advertising) is on the decline due to advances in technology, aka social media.

Do I think you should completely scrap your traditional marketing plan and advertising? No, for this one reason: not all of your market is online. I know I typically recommend not advertising via traditional methods, however during the holiday season, more people will look at newspapers and such to find the best deal. This is the one time of year it’s okay to use some marketing dollars on traditional advertising.

There are some great and creative ways to blend your traditional marketing with your social media marketing. Doing this will give you the best coverage this holiday season.

Here are some ways to mix it up…

1. Cross-promote.

Are you having a social media contest? Promote in your print/radio/television ads. Hang signs up in your storefront (if you have one). Encourage people to follow you on social media when they come into your store.

2. Leave breadcrumbs.

Put forth an advertising campaign that leads your social media community to your print ads and vice versa. For example, if you are having a contest, encourage people via social media to visit the store to enter or look for a special code in a print ad to enter. Give them just enough info to know what to do, but they either have to visit you in-person or follow you on social media to participate.

3. Make sure your social media links are everywhere – on print ads, television ads, flyers, brochures, etc.

The more places you can tell them and the more places they will see it, the better. Something I learned in advertising a long time ago is that is takes someone, on average, to see something 3 times before they act on it.

4. Make information exclusive to your social media community.

For example, in print ads, say “Like us on Facebook for exclusive discounts.” Tease them in print ads and give them a reason to follow/like/circle you online. Encourage your customers to sign up for email newsletters.

There are many more ways to mix and blend the two. Social media, in some form, is here to stay. Traditional Marketing and Social Media will continue to evolve and blend as digital marketing grows and evolves.

Since not everyone will be online, traditional marketing will always be around in some form. It’s important to not forget about your offline community. That’s why every business should have a well-balanced marketing plan mixing the two together.

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