I’m pleased to share the following guest post by Gary Moneysmith. At the time of this posting, Gary was the Interactive Strategy Director and social media guru at Conrad | Phillips | Vutech (where I work). Be sure to visit his blog, Social Media @ Work & Play, for more insights.

Dear Marketers:

You can’t do it all with social media. There, I said it. I know marketing budgets have been slashed and management is clamoring to use those free, newfangled web 2.0 tools. But you can’t turn to social media to save the day. It sucks, I know.

Social media is a slow build. Blogs and Twitter don’t just “go viral” before your eyes. It’s more like planting a seed, fertilizing it and tending to it carefully over time. The more you support it with complementary traditional advertising, the better the odds of it taking root and blossoming. Cross-channel marketing of social media initiatives is extremely helpful, but easily overlooked, especially during tough economic times. Remember the Subservient Chicken campaign by Burger King? Yah, it was supported by a national television advertising campaign that’s cost was certainly NOT chicken feed. They spent a few hundred grand on a cool website/social media initiative, but then invested several million dollars in advertising to support it. Very important point not to forget.

Or how about Barack Obama’s presidential campaign that set a new standard of excellence for grassroots, internet marketing–seemingly deploying every social media channel available. According to BusinessInsider.com, Obama’s spend on the internet was a surprisingly low $8 million. That’s just 3% of the $245 million he spent on television advertising. Clearly he wouldn’t have spent such a colossal sum on television if it wasn’t necessary.

Change doesn’t have to be a light-switch proposition. Start a social media initiative today, but be sure to make sure it’s “on brand” and supported by complementary advertising and public relations. Over time (months or years), transition money from the traditional media budget into the social media campaign itself, but only after it has sprouted and is displaying positive signs of growth. Abandoning a social media campaign to survive on its own does nothing more than waste your time and money, and seal its fate as a failure.

Sincerely,

Gary