Promote Yourself Through The Right Strategy.

I ‘ve had the chance to be public relations chair for my sorority twice, in 2009 and this semester again.

In 2009, I actually had to make flyers to promote an event, send out mass emails to alumni, remind people with a text or two, and get the school approval to post it on the event board.

Now, almost 2012, all of that work has been reduced to one-two-three clicks here and there, thanks to facebook, twitter, and kean’s university new system cougarlink.

I saved a lot of time when it came to advertising bake sales, fundraisings, events, etc.

All I did was go to facebook upload an image or two, write a short description of the event, invite ALL of my friends & link it to cougar link and weekly alumni emails.

Sisters got the invitation and invited their friends. And the results of money-making were better this year.

The constant use of networking sites has made marketing and public relations a lot simpler and cheaper. Not only to promote a business, or an event but yourself also.

I know that if I want my co-workers or boss to see me as an upbeat and hard-working employee, I cant post any “ I am bored at work ” or negative statuses because it can affect my image.

Social media, marketing and PR have a greater impact on someone’s professional image today than it did on 2000 or even 2009.

If advertising my sorority worked for me, “Selling myself or a business” through Facebook, twitter, linkedIn can also give me good results.

It would save me the time of trying to get people to notice me or a business through flyers, telemarketing, business cards, weekly mail coupons, promotions or etc. But most importantly, it would save money!

Why? Because technology has better itself, people don’t really see the flyers you hand them out, or care to listen when you call them at home, or lose the business cards, or only read the important mail- not weekly promotions or etc.

I know I don’t. I spend more time checking my email, facebook, twitter, yelp, zumeo, foursquare etc than my actual home mail. My personal brand will reach more people through these social media sites.

PR and Marketing is cheap today, there are millions ways to get people to hear about a product/business/ or even your skills if trying to find a job. The only thing needed to invest is time and dedication to be creative.

Sure, there are other ways to advertise and these old-fashioned tactics will probably still work, but if I want to save money, time and suceed, my best bet is to have a clean network profile. And update my co-workers, employers, and friends with statuses that will benefit me & not make me or my job look bad.

Millie A.

aguinami@kean.edu

The Future of Advertising

I am at the computer now at 8:30pm on a Saturday night (no, no sadly I do not have a date - - but I digress) and the TV is playing in the background.  What's on TV?  The shows that I have recorded all week but have not gotten around to viewing.

TIVO, DVR's and other recording devices have made it possible for me to continue to be the TV geek that I am despite having a really hectic work/school schedule.  It has also made it possible for me to skip the commercials.  I am the advertisers worst nightmare!

I am sure that I am not alone in being a serial commercial circumventer.  So how do advertisers now capture the attention of consumers like me who are poised to push a button and skip that very costly advertisement?

If you research how companies are advertising now, how they predict they will be advertising in the future, and factor in my reluctance to give advertisers the time of day, it would seem that traditional media advertising may soon go the way of the dinosaur.
    
Advertisers are now smartly switching to online marketing and advertising.  According to a blog by MDG, How Social Media Changed The Ad Game [Infographic], advertising on traditional media sites such as TV, newspapers, and radio is steadily waning while online advertising is growing.

Not only has web marketing and advertising grown, it has become the top focus of most marketers. 

Facebook is by far the avenue of choice for most advertisers with its large number of subscribers.  Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc also give companies a way to measure the success of their online advertisement through tools such as the "Like" option on Facebook.

With advertisers focusing more and more on online advertising, I "like" the fact that maybe someday I will be able to watch a TV show uninterrupted.  But wait, without the sponsorship and advertising dollars, what is the future of TV?  But again, I digress.

P.R and Social Media

In 2011, when starting a new company or even a new campaign, what would be your first thought on how to get the name and brand out to the consumers?

My first answer, being a student in this day and age, would be, well, social media of course. Create a Facebook and Twitter. Get people LinkedIn with similar products or companies. Create emails with coupons and promotions.

This is so very different from how marketing was when there was no Social Media. These sites have improved business's ways of communicating with 'word of mouth'.

Social Media, Marketing and P.R has become this days Triple Threat. This is how companies improve, this is how they get customers, and if they had customers before this is how they gain more.

With social media sites such as Facebook, consumers can actually interact with the company and provide feedback instantly instead of this such as mail in surveys, or 'How are we doing" calls.

As the times increase the use of Social Media for Marketing and Public Relations will only increase and become more involved. Knowing the use, and purpose of these sites now can only improve not only yourself but the company you may one day work for as well.

KAYLA KAPLAN