Long answer: There is no dying social media. Furthermore, there is no denying the shift of traditional advertising methods to methods of social media. Everyone is equal with social media. One person can have just as loud a voice as a newspaper, which at one time (not so long ago) was absolutely unheard of! (i.e. Ashton Kutcher and CNN).

When it comes to business, however, and making your business’ marketing efforts as effective as possible, there is a way to make them work together. Just because you took the plunge into social networking does not mean your outreach through traditional advertising should end. A lot of self-proclaimed social media experts will say that social media is the end all be all to all forms of advertising. period. I disagree. Again I reiterate, a business without social media is like a business without a website in the 90′s. It is ESSENTIAL. I am in no way sticking up for traditional advertising methods, but I am claiming that a shift needs to take place for it to work together.

Companies that are using traditional forms of media to “pull” users into their social media interface is great. For example, I saw a recent Vitamin water commercial. As with most TV ads it is typical to see a website url at the end. Instead, a Facebook page address flashed across the screen. Companies, such as Vitamin Water, are shifting their ads from a hard-sell to almost an invitation to connect and converse with the brands through social networking. This kind of outreach is in my opinion, a smart one and allows both forms of media to work simultaneously.

Have you seen the new T.J. Maxx commercials? What an awesome branding campaign! T.J. Maxx has typically been branded as a discount retail store. PROBLEM: This positioning carried perceptions of being “last year’s fashions”, “the stuff nobody wanted”, etc. etc…

This new branding campaign is blowing these perceptions AWAY!! For those that haven’t seen them, T.J. Maxx’s advertising campaign is educating customers on the way they buy their merchandise. Basically, the idea is that the designer has extra inventory since department stores and boutiques can only carry so much. T.J. Maxx buyers come in and make the designer a deal to take the rest of the inventory off their hands. This is why T.J. Maxx can offer the same current fashions at a discounted price. WOW! What a different perception, don’t you think? Slogans are used such as, “When we score, you score” and be “shopportunistic”. That’s a thought.. shopping at T.J. Maxx doesn’t make you cheap it makes you shopportunistic. I like the sound of that.

They even have a journal on their website tracking their buyers progress all around the world to find these great designer “scores.”

Check it out! http://www.tjmaxx.com/about.asp?subSection=journal