Local Newspaper vs Social Media

To communicate effectively, we must realize that we all perceive the world differently and use this understanding to guide our communication with others. Well, that just wouldn’t be a fair fight now, would it? It would fall under the proverbial saying, “Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight. ” This is part three of a series comparing what business owners may be familiar with marketing their business with something they may have questions or reservations about. For years, local business owners have been in the local paper. Even today, with dwindling circulation and content, plenty of local business owners are still purchasing ads in their local newspapers. While I find it the least effective way to market your business today, that’s not what this blog is about, so I will take the high road. Business owners who have successfully marketed their company in the local paper have used it for price and product features. Most people who will note ads are looking for deals; readers are looking for coupons and sales of 25% off. The content and message you use need to be different, but the two mediums are used the same way. People are friends with people near and far, old friends and new friends; they also ‘Like’ many pages that they want to be aware of what’s happening.  Reading your Facebook wall is a lot like reading the newspaper. You have your local news, national news, sports, music, what’s happening, and ads from the businesses that you like. You also have your obits. Today, I usually hear first about noteworthy people who have passed on Facebook. We all know about the birth page; we follow the pregnancy by announcing the birth of a child right here on Facebook. With all this, is Facebook writing the final obit for the local newspaper? So, not only does Facebook provide most of the news you want or need, but you can also read it like a paper. With Twitter, if it happened 20 minutes ago, it’s gone. With Facebook, I can go back hours and catch stories. You can go back and forward, forward and back, a lot like we read the newspaper. As a business owner, look at how people use Facebook today compared to how they used the local paper yesterday. While there are a lot of similarities in the content and how it’s used, the message needs to be a lot different on Facebook than what you’re accustomed to in print. While price and product can fly occasionally, you’ll be much better off using it as an image builder and have a more engaging message than price and product. I know it can be challenging to market your business in something that you’re unfamiliar with. If you’re familiar with how you read the paper and you’ve sold your company in the newspaper, you should be on Facebook. Just look at the usage: It’s the same as your local newspaper; it doesn’t cost as much, and you don’t have to pay extra for color. Related Posts Radio vs Twitter Related Posts Television vs Youtube