Social Monkey

In the last few years the terms ‘Old Media’ and ‘New Media’ have become common when talking about media communications and now, more recently, we also have the term ‘Social Media’.

Old Media

This is what you might think of as traditional media.  Newspapers, Magazines, Television and Radio.  These four channels have been the heavyweights when it comes to media influence and there is no doubting that they still have the ability to reach a mass market.  However, it could be argued that we are all now so bombarded with advertising and marketing messages from these channels that we have learnt to ‘switch off’ from them .  It is also hard, if using these channels to advertise, to track and quantify exactly what response it has elicited.

New Media

This is generally thought of as the emergence of online media and includes websites and electronic newsletters.  The start of these channels, and the constant changes and developments that go with them, have led to exciting times in media communications.  The only advertising spend that has increased in the last few years has been online.  Banner ads, and online advertising in general, are popular because it can be tracked and quantified.

Social Media

In the last couple of years we have seen the creation and development of social media.  Sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.  Once started as a means for individuals to communicate it was never going to be long before organisations saw, and harnessed, the power they have as a form of media communications.

Any successful marketing and communications campaign or strategy should consider all of these channels as part of their mix.  However, whereas Old and New Media rely on a message being created and pushed out to an audience, Social Media is also about engagement and conversation.