Social media and the 10% solution.

I'm often asked if brands should use traditional or social media. The question is often phrased as if the two are mutually exclusive and you...

I’m often asked if brands should use traditional or social media. The question is often phrased as if the two are mutually exclusive and you need to be on one camp or the other. But social media vs. traditional is not an “either or” proposition. If you have the budget, using traditional media wisely will rocket your social campaign into orbit. We have tested this on campaigns and found that the best results come from when our social campaign is supported by an integrated traditional campaign. The reason is because social campaigns can take a while to gain traction. The addition of traditional seems to accelerate this process.

So our advice at The Duffy Agency is to always to combine traditional and social in a way that suits the brand and the budget. Having said that, it is often the case that clients who have not budgeted for traditional media from the outset will not have the budget to supplement social campaigns with traditional media.

But if our client has budgeted for a traditional campaign we always advise them to consider the 10% solution. Take 10% of your traditional media budget and reallocate it to add a social dimension to your campaign. So far this formula has never failed to boost results. You may find it is a painless way to test the waters with social media and see what it can do for your brand. If it works you may consider the 20% solution next time around.

This ad for a Swedish Newspaper adopts more of the “either or” mentality, but it is still lots of fun to watch.

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