Tin Alley's Interview

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The title is a little misleading as it’s not really pitting one up against the other as much as trying to point out more of the similarities.  A lot of small business owners invest in radio every month.  These same business owners scratch their head and wonder what or how does social media fit into their marketing plans.  So for those business owners that are familiar with marketing on radio let’s take a look at some of the similarities.

Just like every form of traditional advertising is distinctively different, true can be said for social media.  To be most effective you have to use each platform of advertising a little different and play to their strengths.  Just as Television, Radio, Print and outdoor are different so too are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Youtube.  Today as the title suggests I’m going to look at the similarities of radio and twitter.

One of the beauties of radio is to be able to find a more defined demographic than the other traditional mediums.  Radio leans towards being pro-active, message is important and frequency is king.  Sounds to me, a lot like twitter.  I’ve always found the two are very similar.  You have the ability with twitter to define a certain demo/lifestyle that you follow and in turn, follows you back.  Yes you’re going to end up with a #IFOLLOWBACK people who are just after the numbers but it’s not like 100% of any audience in advertising is going to be great!

Radio is a broadcast medium and so is twitter.  Where people will say engage, engage, engage, and people do engage, it’s a broadcast medium.  You’re going to find the same clutter on twitter that you’re going to hear on the radio.  Certainly there are going to be plenty of messages on twitter that fall on deaf ears, just as your favorite station is going to play a song you love everytime.

Frequency with twitter is very important.  Twitter is very active.  Things happen fast, if you think you can make one tweet a day and have any impact, well that’s probably not going to happen.  If you’ve ever advertised in radio two things you’ll know lead to success, frequency and consistency.  Same can be said for twitter.  Tweet with frequency and be consistent and you’ll have more success.

Just as in radio where there are dayparts that deliver more listeners, twitter is very similar.  There are and have been studies that show certain times of the day where more people are tweeting, and that your tweet has a better opportunity to be re-tweeted.

If you’re a business owner who has had success marketing your business on radio, when you think of if or how your business could be marketed in twitter think of radio.  If you use much of the same strategies and techniques that have led to success with your business on radio with twitter you’ll do just fine!

About the Author:

Mike Frey

Before co-founding Paradux Media Group, Mike spent more than 15 years in the world of marketing and advertising. While working with hundreds of locally owned businesses, he developed an appreciation for minimizing clients’ dollars while maximizing tangible results for those clients.

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  1. Tweets that mention Radio vs Social Media -- Topsy.com on January 26, 2011 at 7:15 am

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Linkedin Queen and Paradux Media Group, Mike Frey. Mike Frey said: #Blog– Radio vs Social Media the similarities. #Twitter #Radio #SocialMedia […]

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