The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same
By Mike Crawford

As I look forward into 2007, I see a plethora of new media outlets. More than ever before. On top of all the new ones from last year.

Does this mean traditional media are withering away into nothingness?

Hardly.

To learn more about the state of media today, I scoured the Internet for current research on usage habits. What might surprise most people is that consumers continue to rely heavily on their local newspapers and local TV news. It’s true that blogs and other emerging media are on the rise, but these media are still in their infancy. Today, fewer than 14 percent of people use blogs. Fewer than 5 percent use podcasts. Fewer than 5 percent access media via their cell phones. Presumably, these numbers are only slightly higher in business environments due to larger proportions of Early Adopters.

On the other hand, almost 74 percent of consumers rely on their local TV news. Nearly 70 percent depend on their local newspaper – you know, the prematurely pronounced extinct species of the Information Age. Even more surprisingly, this heavy print readership cuts across all generations. Translating this continued reliance on print media into a business environment indicates that trade magazines should remain a dominate source of information in 2007.

So, what does all this tell us?

Do not abandon your traditional media outlets. This year is no time for “out with the old and in with the new.”

As you are developing your marketing programs for 2007, take the previous findings and the following advice into consideration. In recent years, I have seen many companies devote nearly their entire budgets to Internet marketing. For most, this is foolhardy. While Internet marketing is effective, your marketing program should continue to be diverse and balanced. You should focus the majority of your advertising and public relations activities on traditional media outlets and use new media outlets sparingly, i.e. to reach niche markets.

This year, one of your best marketing resolutions should be the same as last year’s. And the year before. And the year before that. Go back to the basics. Work with your agency to develop a good, solid media mix … and find a way to tell your parents that you just can’t drop everything at a moment’s notice to drive 500 miles every two or three weeks for a visit. I mean it’s not like it’s just around the corner.

Hmmm, maybe I need to run an ad in my parents’ local newspaper.

E-mail the author: Mike Crawford

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