Social media advertising replacing traditional methods due to price, interactivity

The history of marketing has always been centered on the idea of advertising. As time has passed, the method of best advertising has continued to develop. From print, to radio, to television, and now to social media, ads always find ways to reach their consumers. Today, social media is

changing the way marketing professionals look at advertising. Social media advertising on websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Yik Yak are quickly turning traditional methods of advertising into obsolete figments of the past. Social media ads are changing the marketing industry because they allow for the growth of a brand identity, a cheap marketing solution, and most importantly, an outlet to connect with consumers.

Traditional advertising techniques focus on mass marketing, rather than personalization

Infographic courtesy of entrepreneur.com

In past generations of marketing, advertising has been focused on getting the message across to as many people as possible. The idea of advertising began in 1730s when the first magazines were created according to the info graphic on the left. Ads gave business owners an opportunity to draw attention to their goods and services. As mediums developed, ads became commonplace in the world. Billboards, television sets, and radios were all centers for advertisements.

The only issue with these ads is that they can not be targeted to specific consumers. These types of ads are created for viewing by the masses and not single consumers. The ultimate goal of marketing professionals is to get customers to buy their goods, but they first have to reach the right customers, which is not easily done with traditional advertising techniques. As the history of marketing continues, a push towards personalization is what has changed the industry.

The personal ad movement began as television and radio ads that could be targeted to general demographics who consume specific content. For instance, a marketing team can likely guess that the audience for a new MTV show will be teenagers while an episode of Dateline NBC will likely be viewed by adults. By increasing the degree of personalization in ads, marketers are able to have their messages resonate with consumers more effectively. As the advertising industry grew into a 78.5 Billion dollar industry in 2011 according to an article on traditional marketing from marketing-schools.org, more professionals sought ways to reach their consumers even more efficiently than with previous methods. This is where social media entered the conversation.

Internet use over 40% of the world for first time is causing more marketing professionals to pursue social media advertising

The growth of social media has changed the way that marketers look at advertising. Today, Internet growth worldwide has climbed over 40% and more than ever people are using social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Social media allows users to connect with friends,

check the news, and post moments of their lives. For marketers, this is a treasure trove of information about potential consumers, and the key to creating powerful ads. The growth of social media advertising allows those in the advertising and marketing fields to tap into this never ending database of information.

According to a study on social media marketing industry, 93% of companies are using social media to connect with consumers. This number is so high because social media is a  better tool at reaching consumers compared to its traditional marketing counterparts of print, television, and radio ads. Social media advertising is cheap, enhances a brand identity, connects with consumers, and creates a word of mouth mentality amongst consumers.

Social media better than traditional advertisements at creating brand identities and connecting with customers 

Graphic courtesy of Adweek

Jordan Looby, the assistant director of marketing in the University of Maryland Athletic Department, says that he prefers using social media when advertising because it is both cheap and timely compared to traditional advertising mediums. He explained that if a team at the university is announced as an NCAA tournament bid, it is much more practical to create an ad using photoshop and distribute it over the team's social media compared to paying for an advertisement that will not run until the news is already irrelevant. According to Looby, one of the best aspects of social media is its ability to be free and fast. In the info graphic on the left by adweek, the average social media ad will cost less

than $5 to reach 1,000 people while mediums like mail and newspaper can cost upwards of $40-50 respectively. Because of this cost disparity, social media ads are quickly becoming the most popular advertising technique amongst marketing professionals.

Another aspect of social media advertising that is better than traditional ads is the ability to build a brand identity. A study by David Flauds explains how by posting on various social media accounts, companies like GE are able to create their company values through actions and not simply words. Although traditional advertising techniques can accomplish this, social media allows marketers to constantly post and tweet to create an overall brand identity that consumers can appreciate and believe in. This will help attach customers who share common value and will lead to greater numbers of sales.

The biggest difference between traditional and social media ads that has pushed marketers towards the latter is that social media allows companies to connect one on one with their consumers. A study by Rosemary Thackeray tells how social media allows marketers to “directly engage” consumers through posts and feeds. This is the idea of the marketing paradigm where new ads are sent one to one as opposed to one to many. A strong social media presence is now allowing companies to respond to consumer interests in ways that could never before. They can answer inquiries, write to disgruntled customers, and help spread their brand. A post by Angela Hausman in the Hausman marketing letter speaks to how social media is a two way communication system and that this system give companies a chance to reach who they want to target in their ads and do it on their terms. This leads to an increased ability to market effectively and also allows customers to communicate with each other through word of mouth advertising on social media.

With all of the positives of social media, the question still remains on how effective it really is at advertising and what is next. A new marketing tool called the Klout score is able to tell how influential brands are on social media. This score tracks the effectiveness of a company on social media and can report a score on how “influential” their brand is. For instance, President Barack Obama is one of the most influential figures on social media with a 99 Klout score. As for the future, the possibilities are endless. Jordan Looby believes that the next step in social ads will be an increase on interactivity and personalization where consumers will feel like ads were created just for them.

Overall, social media advertising has changed the marketing profession for the better. It is not only cheaper and faster, but it allows companies to better connect with their target consumers. This is a change that is here to stay and will continue to put traditional advertising techniques on the back burner for years to come.