How To Market Using New Media

Just 10 or so years ago when business folks talked about buying local media advertising, they meant newspaper, radio, television, or print. The new media then, was still cable. 
 
Today, New Media means something bigger with truly exciting possibilities. It's time to give serious consideration to new media.

What is New Media?

According to Wikipedia, New Media by definition is: On demand access to content, anytime, anywhere, on any digital device. Facebook, YouTube, Search Engines, Pandora, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, iHeart Radio, Spotify, Twitter, Pinterest, the list goes on...

Today's marketers can purchase advertising and reach people using new media; Facebook ads, Google Ads, Google Mobile, YouTube Ads, Bing Ads, Pandora Internet Radio Advertising, and so much more.

Why Is It Important?

Because that's where the people are now. Time spent online has increase 62% from 2010 alone. While time spent with traditional media is decreasing.

This doesn't mean people aren't listening to radio, reading news stories or watching TV. They're simply shifting how they do it, by consuming it through new media.

Cable Subscribers Defect!

Take a look at TV viewing. The major cable companies are losing subscribers rapidly.

"The hard numbers already look alarming for the 3 largest cable companies. In the 12 months ending March 31, 2013: Time Warner subs fell by 557,000, Charter subs fell by 199,000, Comcast lost 359,000" (Forbes Magazine, 7/24/2013)

Meanwhile, on demand providers like Hulu and Netflix have gained millions of subscribers. Why? Cost and convenience. With Hulu and Netflix you can watch shows when you want, with limited commercial interruption and the cost is no brainer. If your cable bill is running around $165/month, a Hulu subscription for just $7.99/month is hard to ignore.

Source: Forbes Magazine 7/24/2013

The New Age of Radio

Internet radio has gained millions of users. Examples of internet radio are: Pandora, I-Heart Radio, Spotify, CBS Radio and more.

Let's look at the Biggie: Pandora

I'm actually listening to Pandora as I write this. At 1:28pm today I heard an ad for Warner's Stellian and thought, "Good for Them." I like Pandora, only 1 commercial per break, (Because I'm too cheap to get the paid version that eliminates all ads) and I can build my own stations.

Other local clients are catching on as well. I ran into a friend who runs a local car dealership and he is putting the vast majority of his budget into new media and having great results.

Hyper Targeting!!

With new media you can target like crazy. You might think Google, Facebook, YouTube and Pandora are national companies and can't help us local folks.

Au contraire: You can target a Rochester female with a child between the ages of 13-16 in the zip code 55902 that "Intends to buy a Honda." That's right, you can target "Intenders." People who, because of their surfing/posting habits, are categorized as "Intenders." Intend to go to Brazil, Intend to buy a TV, Intend to take the SAT's, etc.

Whew, I have to catch my breath! As someone who has bought millions of dollars in advertising for my clients over the years, this excites the bejeezus out of me.

The Proof

Metrics. Finally. With new media you get metrics. Who clicked your ad, who liked your page from your ad, who filled out your quote request, and so on.

The Catch

Because there always is one! With traditional media, your trusty media rep was there for you, planning your buy, getting you the best value, staying up on trends, running the right creative for you, helping you create the ad.

With new media, you're the rep. You have to decide what to buy, examine the choices, decide and build the creative, build the campaign and WATCH the campaign.

When we place Facebook ads for our clients, they work great! For a time. Then they stop working and we switch it up; the creative, or who or where we are targeting. Your ad may only have hours or days that it works. Watching your campaign is highly advised. I didn't mean to end on a downer. It's still completely do-able. You may have someone in your organization who would love to take this on, or you can have an outside firm do it for you.

Bottom line: New Media could be very good for your bottom line. It's cheap! You can hyper target and you get metrics.

We'd love to hear any new media success stories you have. Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.