Putting $10,000 in Newspaper Ads Over Social Media

Paul Williams writes that given a choice he would rather plow $10,000 into newspaper ads over social media...

"Social media is a great way to keep the conversation going with your customers outside of your store. A way to listen. A way to learn.

Social media is our gold rush. With the zillions of tweets, Diggs, blog posts, and Facebook updates all panning for attention I’ve only heard of a few who have ’struck it rich’ as a result.

With $10,000 to spend. I’m going to put it into a well designed ad, in a print medium, my target audience reads".

If we're talking ads to ads I can see where he's coming from. Although, $10,000 in Google ads could be a better initial investment than both combined.

However, then fact remains that advertising is untrusted and it's thought leadership and expertise that rises to the top in today's world. People want to know what you stand for before they develop an ongoing relationship. #

Comments

[Gareth Rees]

He'd better hope his brand is well known, cos 10k ain't gonna build much frequency!

[elavator]

Rightly said, social media is not for driving short term sales, you cannot become rich overnight by doing social media campaign. it's better to go for $ 10000 Advert in Newspaper. Social media is for long term promotion, you can connect with your customers, get feed backs about your product, inform about new launches and events, study customer expectations and trends. It is more like a tool for customer relationship management.

[Mike]

He makes good points, but I think it really comes down what's being sold. Lawnmowers? Sure, a case could be made for print advertising. Software? No way--Google ads or a smart blog or a clever viral social media campaign would probably be the better choice. To warp McLuhan just a little: The context is the message.

[dchern]

advertising is untrusted and it's thought leadership and expertise that rises to the top in today's world.What planet are you living on.Magazines,radio,tv and newspapers exist because of advertising for over 100 years.UNTRUSTED????????????????

[Casey Cheshire]

You're spot on with your analysis, Steve. Paul's article rubs me like sandpaper- ironically, his "Idea Sandbox" site is all about "remarkable ideas to grow your business."

[Paul (from Idea Sandbox)]

Thanks for re-posting part of my article and for the discussion.When explaining to a colleague how tired I was of hearing about social media, he challenged me... Told me to make a case stating why print beats social media.However, the decision of choosing one tactic over the other isn't like picking whether you like Coke over Pepsi, it should be based on your strategy.Scores of social media experts (books, websites, and consultants) are scaring business owners and marketers into "not being left behind." With knee-jerk response and without a plan, Twitter accounts and Facebook pages are popping up.Too often we're letting new, flashy tactics drive our strategy. Strategy drives our tactics. And you should pick your communication/information mediums based on:a) being where your customers are, andb) being where they would look for a company like you.That could be in print, or social media, or sky writing.