Social Media IS the Media

Who needs social media?

In 2013 — almost everyone with a smart phone.

If you’re a business that would be listed in the Yellow Pages. if you’re a business that would have a business card. if you do your business online or you’re a public figure — Social Media is your new calling card.

If your an arms trader, your business is illegal, or you have a security clearance … naaah.

Social media, like PR, is not for everyone. It’s only for businesses that want to be visible and leaders who want to be thought leaders.

If you want visibility, if traditional PR can help your business grow, if you’re ready to handle the responsibility of being famous, then social media is for you too.

And for that reason, social media is quickly becoming the hub of all marketing programs–from small business on up.

It is by far, the easiest, cheapest, fastest, most effective promotional tool I’ve ever used.

More viral than email. More credible than newspaper ads. Cheaper and faster than brochures and postcards. More visible than a website that nobody ever finds or reads. Exponentially faster, easier to control the message and thus sometimes even more effective than traditional news media press relations.

Very few businesses can ignore Social Media or PR anymore.

As an aging marketing pro I ran into at a cafe the other day said: “Most of social media is pure bullsh*t for my clients.”

And he’s right…for his old school clients it’s a waste of time. For a few, select businesses, like lawyers, (unless they deal with high profile cases that generate publicity), or people with government or corporate jobs (unless they are company spokespersons), or arms dealers, or private detectives, or schoolteachers who want to protect their personal privacy, or anyone with a security clearance, it’s probably better to keep a very low social media profile.

But for some businesses, like doctors, dentists, real estate agents, authors, consultants and especially small businesses and sole proprietors, social media can bring you an unprecedented new level of visibility.

And for others, like artists, musicians, performers, workshop leaders or anyone who produces events, it’s critical.

Remember, if you ignore Social Media it won’t go away. And the conversation could be happening without you.

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