This post was written by Mirna Birdsocial media consultant, speaker, author, and social media instructor at the University of California, Irvine.
SmartPulse — SmartBrief on Social Media's weekly unscientific reader survey — tracks feedback from leading marketers about social media practices and issues.
Last week's poll questions: How do the costs of social media marketing and traditional marketing channels compare to their revenue?
- Traditional marketing is more expensive than social media marketing – 43.48%
- Difficult to compare the two – 41.74%
- Social media marketing is more expensive than traditional marketing channels – 12.17%
- Cost is about the same – 2.61%
A few weeks ago, I was in a meeting with several executives and we were discussing the cost of social media marketing compared to traditional marketing channels. They agreed on several important points. Despite what many say, nothing on social media is free, but maintaining an online presence is quite cost-effective for most businesses. It's really an apples to oranges comparison. Regardless of these conclusions, no one could answer which of the two is more expensive.
As a longtime media planner and someone who has been involved in planning social media marketing programs for several years, I have to agree with many SmartBrief readers that traditional marketing is more expensive. I think. Yes, it takes time, money, human resources, experience, and skills to get a social media program off the ground, but so do campaigns through traditional channels.
Over the past few years, I've seen many companies spend a lot of money on their online presence, but still, because of the short-term campaigns I used to see when I was in media planning. That's nothing compared to the eight- to nine-figure advertising costs of . Results were very difficult to measure.
It all depends on the type of business, goals, and how far the company wants to go. If the budgets of large companies don't give you an accurate picture, look at small businesses. As an entrepreneur, I confess that I don't have the budget to reach a global audience for even an hour through traditional channels. But by focusing on social media marketing with virtually no budget, you can build a global presence that allows you to engage with your audience and foster relationships that will last the lifetime of your clients and future business around the world. I did. Does that answer the question?
What do you think about the cost of social media marketing?
