The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media

Chapter 4. Businesses, Improve Your Aim

Don't get me wrong; I know that companies with huge advertising budgets like GEICO, Proctor & Gamble and Nike, will always be able to cover broadcast, print, and digital media to their heart's content. But let's set them aside for a moment and concentrate on the rest of us.

Who has the budget to create pervasive, long-term campaigns across multiple channels, at least in a way that is sustainable? Even on a local level it's expensive. And why should we when the return on investment (ROI) on so much of our media spending is incalculable anyway? These days, if it can't be measured it likely won't stand.

Not everyone, especially those in the media, will agree, but that's okay. Like you, I live in the world of constrained marketing budgets. Every small business does, so it behooves us to spend money where we can (a) track the ROI and (b) see a reasonable return on our investment. More and more, that means moving the money once reserved for the Yellow Pages, TV, radio, or print to the Web.

Before we go on, let me clarify two things: First, I am not out to vilify traditional forms of marketing and advertising. For some industries, Yellow Page advertising works very well. Neither am I out to suggest that social media is a panacea destined to replace other channels. If anything, we are seeing a trend toward social media marketing becoming part of a larger, ...