29 Aug Social Spend

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Vines, apps and content. It’s all we ever talk about in marketing anymore. Clearly, our smart phones have become permanent appendages. And tablets are here to stay. . .But creating content costs money. So how should all this affect your media spend?

As we begin planning for 2015, we start with a budget. This budget used to be crisply divided into production costs and media costs. Now that same budget has to cover those things plus web content and social media ideas.

A $200k TV spot that reaches 6 million people is no longer as exciting as a $2k video that got 2 million LIKES. But the reality is, the social media audience is finite and unpredictable, whereas paid media can tell you exactly how many people your ad will reach.

Your dull advertisement may not hold their attention (that’s when you need to hire WilsonMcGuire Creative), but you can be sure it will appear. Your social media effort is dependent on how many followers you have and it competes with the content surrounding it. Content that changes every second of every day.

Everyone wants a viral social media effort. The Ice Bucket Challenge has set the bar. Social media is an unbelievably powerful medium when it captures attention and engages your audience. However, it’s a bit like the hottest new fashion trend. It’s hot today and forgotten tomorrow.

Social media should play an integral role in your 2015 marketing plan. But it shouldn’t be at the expense of your media plan. Let’s not forget that a good marketing plan requires a solid paid reach. After all, if you’re not in front of your audience, you’re out of sight, out of mind and, soon to be, out of customers.