Social media marketing has evolved into a global phenomenon as it continues to become an evermore important communication medium for businesses to promote brand awareness, customer engagement and enhanced service. This effort largely revolves around creating content that resonates with an organization’s target audience while encouraging readers to forward said content through their social networks. It’s advantageous on the grounds that it appears to come from a trustworthy, third party source, as opposed to a company itself. Improved customer relationship management (CRM) along with increased visibility, familiarity and credibility are all enhancement mechanisms connected to social media marketing. Additionally, it’s a relatively inexpensive medium that serves as a platform for organizations to build marketing campaigns. While it is a good way to knock on the door, it’s not the be-all and end-all of sales, marketing nor is it a one-stop shop that fixes businesses overnight at little or no cost. It requires a real time investment with a firm grounding in well thought out strategy. It’s important to remember that social media works by driving traffic to your website where it can be converted into a sale not the other way around. A survey done by Demandbase and Focus indicated that a company’s website was the top online source of new sales leads and seven times more effective than social media.

One medium that has become increasingly underestimated is outdoor advertising, an effective adjunct to advertising; especially, when coupled with other media. Unlike newspapers, TV, direct mail and/or online advertising, it doesn’t have to be invited into the home. It works at all hours of the day and night, seven days a week. People are exposed to it when they walk by or drive past and, whether they like it or not, they can’t turn it off or throw it out. It, literally, has a captured audience, and its messages work on the advertising principle of effective frequency. Since most messages stay in the same place for a month or longer, the multiple impressions made reinforce the presence of a product or company making it more memorable. Without a doubt, billboards will continue to be successful in the future. The simple reason for this is the very nature of them. They are large posters in public places that can’t really be avoided.

Every channel has unique communications attributes, and every customer his or her own profile, that marketers must be aware of in order to effectively present consistent and coordinated information to customers. Cross channel marketing involves tracking a user across multiple channels, listening and engaging with him or her at the right time and place. While some are quick to say that content or context is king, the fact of the matter is that opportunity resides in engagement. Content refers to a carefully crafted message. Context deals with all the details surrounding its deployment; especially, in regards to its timeliness. Cross channel marketing can lead to higher conversions and higher customer loyalty. Both are steppingstones towards generating more revenue, but the caveat here is integration. If there is dissonance in the message(s) delivered, goals are misaligned or it’s executed too early or too late, a campaign will fall into shambles. Over the next several years, making the move to true cross channel marketing will be more critical than ever before to a company’s success. A company’s capacity to integrate, manage and interchangeably use both traditional and emerging technologies will enable businesses to reach customers in motion and optimize the user experience from beginning to end. A strong advertising campaign will integrate as many of these channels as possible.

The introduction of the Internet has changed advertising and marketing. It has vastly altered the ways in which people view, use and interact with media. This has, in some ways, changed the effectiveness of certain techniques and channels, but it has also created new opportunities. While there is no doubt that the media landscape is moving towards a digital future, it doesn’t mean that print and digital are mutually exclusive. It doesn’t signal that traditional media is on the brink of extinction either because social media marketing is not a replacement for the traditional marketing framework but an extension of currently existing marketing strategies. Ultimately, businesses that have their finger on the pulse of what customers want will always have a competitive advantage.

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