We’re all aware that the ways in which people source information is changing, but just how rapidly these changes are happening and what it means for your business may be harder to grasp. How do you get your products and ideas into the marketplace? What methods of marketing and communications should you use? Are advertising and media communication mediums really changing?

Statistics show us that young people spend more time surfing the web than they do watching TV – and it’s not only the young who spend time online! Fairfax media has recently slashed is staff around the country in a desperate bid to stay afloat and relevant in the digital age. Australia’s commercial free-to-air networks are struggling to maintain audience figures that only a few years ago would have been considered inadequate.

Recently James Packer walked away from PBL, leaving the Nine Network and ACP magazines deep in debt and in desperate need of a financier to support repositioning of the company online.

Back in the good old mid-’80s, advertisers could rest easy in the knowledge that if they booked spots across the three major commercial networks they would reach the majority of Australia’s consumers. Not so today.

Recent surveys of consumer respondents have shown that:
* 19% stated spending six hours or more per day on personal internet usage, versus nine percent of respondents who reported the same levels of TV viewing.
* 66% reported viewing between one to four hours of TV per day, versus 60% who reported the same levels of personal internet usage.

So what are your options in this brave new world of media? The short answer is that marketers need to integrate the traditional media of press, TV and radio with the new social media elements added to the mix.

Smart marketing makes the most of these new environments, reaching target audiences directly – interacting and engaging people and key decision makers on their terms.

When you understand where your audience and markets source their news and information, you can consider different media to reach them.

Here are just some of the options you can consider as part of your ongoing marketing:
* create a company blog
* participate in social media forums
* create company profiles and share relevant content on social networks
* create videos and demos for YouTube, webcast and podcast.

Most importantly, make sure this content is closely managed, with new information added constantly.

As you enter 2009, is it time to review your external communications plan? What are your customers reading, listening to, watching?

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 4th, 2008 at 10:50 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.