Social Media is nothing new in Marketing.

Everybody says that social media is the newest form of marketing and must be adopted by businesses in order to be successful, especially as everyone is spending more and more time online these days. But is social media in fact such a new form / style of marketing?

For years, the idea of successful marketing is to deliver the right message about your business and importantly, in the right places in order to be seen by the biggest audiences likely to engage with your brand. In other words, powerful brand awareness delivered to your key target audience. Have we not be doing this for years anyway before social media and the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc have merely been making things easier?
Social media enables us to contain an audience in an active location that we can deliver key messages to at key optimum times. This style of marketing is available in many other forms of marketing too, ie we advertise in the local newspaper which is released at a regular intervals and distributed at known locations to a loyal readership – We used to advertise in the Yellow Pages which again was a household name product which nearly every home had thanks to them being delivered out nationally and consumer awareness was to check them in order to find relevant local businesses. Business networking likewise relies on brand awareness to attract members who gather at known times and locations enabling you to join and share out your business message to – Bill board advertising usually relies on large marketing spaces set out in key locations that holds high levels of consumer passers by allowing for high visibility and brand awareness of the advertising business. Television and radio advertising is the same, these channels have built audiences over the years and are able to sell advertisements at cost.

From the above we see a pattern which is that all forms of marketing really holds the same key to success and value for money for the advertiser who only needs to make the decision as to which style of marketing would give them the best ROI. What social media does hold a unique edge over other forms of marketing is that for the time being, it is free to use and gain success with. You can build your own audiences and own them and deliver your business messages which on other forms of marketing would cost you, ie adv space in newspapers or websites, poster advertising at stations or air time costs on radio and TV.
Social media is the newest type of advertising, but the style and route to success is very similar to what we have been doing for years…

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

for sale sign london
Breaking News

More sellers looking to enter the property market

The latest research from eXp UK has revealed that an increasing number of home sellers are entering the UK market, as demonstrated by recent growth in online search interest for terms such as ‘estate agent’ and ‘best estate agent’. Previous research from eXp UK recently found that sellers started reentering the market in the opening…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Non-standard home insurance cover and how to get it right

Leading insurer provides the low-down on non-standard home insurance cover and how to get it right Most home insurance policies in the UK are designed for ‘standard’ homes, but not every home is considered standard. Whether the property is built with timber frames, has a flat roof or is a listed building, it may fall…
Read More
Breaking News

Should you change mortgage lender?

The latest research from award-winning mortgage adviser, Alexander Hall, has revealed that more than half of homeowners approaching the end of a fixed-rate mortgage are currently undecided on their future with their mortgage lender, despite notable improvements across the mortgage market over the last 12 months. The consumer insight, commissioned by Alexander Hall, surveyed 1,035…
Read More
Breaking News

Property chains cost movers £2,000 in unexpected costs

Property ‘chain reactions’ add over £2k to moving costs on average Nearly half of home buyers who have been in property chains say they experienced delays or transaction breakdown because of related issues Problems with chains have led three in 10 to put off future moves, while one in seven say they’d only consider a…
Read More
Breaking News

Rental demand remains resilient in 2026

The latest research from Benham and Reeves has found that around a quarter of all rental homes currently listed across Britain have already secured a tenant, highlighting continued underlying demand despite ongoing regulatory uncertainty. Benham and Reeves analysed current rental market listings to highlight current rental demand, the size of rental properties currently most in-demand…
Read More
Breaking News

Buy-to-let lending growth matches FTBs and homemovers

The latest market analysis from Alexander Hall has revealed that buy-to-let mortgage lending has grown at an average quarterly rate of 7% over the last year, matching the pace of growth seen across both first-time buyer and home movers, as improving mortgage market conditions continue to support borrowing demand for rental properties. Alexander Hall analysed…
Read More