Do You Know the Difference Between New and Old Media?

Social media isn’t just an extension of traditional media. It encompasses social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and also includes blogs, online publications, YouTube, and photo sharing sites like Flickr.

Traditional media includes television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and trade journals. Some people think we will all have Kindles and that no one reads the newspaper anymore. But, that’s not the case. There are still Baby Boomers, and Gen X and Y still turn to the newspapers, magazines, television ,and radio for their news and information.

But the two forms of media do differ.

With social media, you need to build a community or get involved in an existing community to get your message out. With traditional media, there is no community building. The community is already there and you can tell how big the reach is through their circulations and viewership figures.

When deciding on your marketing plan for your company, consider doing both. You still need to get into traditional media to get your message out, but you also need to incorporate social media into the mix to listen, engage and interact with your audience.

Say you are interviewed by CNBC and the article appears on television and also online. What do you do?

For starters, link that interview and share it on your social networking sites. If you only have a half dozen people on your Facebook page, then how big is the reach to link to your social networking site? But, if you have a thousand people friending or following you, then you still have a story to share and you’re reaching more people than if you didn’t have a Facebook page at all. If you’re lucky to have thousands of people following you on Facebook, then you really have the opportunity to spread the word about your interview.

One of my reporter friends posts her stories from Newsday on her Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts. Interestingly, feedback goes on the page in which she posted.  So, for example, if she put something up on Facebook, her community will respond on Facebook. After all, people go where they feel most comfortable!

Every time I have a blog posted either at my own site, hilarytopper.com, my reviews and running experience on.blogcritics.org or my blogs on small businesses on this publication, nyreport.com, I microblog/tweet it out to my online community. I microblog interesting industry news or general current events/pop culture. That is, I link all of my 40+ social networking sites together and I spread the word that something new is out so that my entire online community knows about it too. 

Remember, the writing for social media also differs from traditional media.  In traditional media, you need to write in journalistic form. In social media, you need to be more informal, almost conversational.

Social media keeps changing every day. And, with the surge of social media, traditional media is changing too. Therefore, it is important to have someone consult with you on new sites and new ways to reach your market. 

The use of both traditional and social media are important for the growth of your business. They go hand-in-hand with each other. The more you reach your targeted market through online and offline media, the more people will know about your business!