By: Ray Thomas, COO, ZANA Business Network

What does it mean to do marketing in a new media world?  How does one reach a targeted audience today?  It is easy to get caught up in using the latest new media marketing techniques.  After all, if you aren’t on Facebook or LinkedIn, or if you haven’t been sending “tweets,” then you must be missing out, right?

Not necessarily.  The medium you use is only part of the issue.

Remember that every message is ultimately aimed at the consumer of your product or service.  That can be a retail consumer or a buyer inside a business.  You aren’t talking to the press; you are talking through the press to your customer.  You aren’t talking to the investment community; you are talking through it to your customer.  You aren’t talking to analysts, industry associations, or other external brand influencers; you are really talking to your customer.

The same holds true for internal audiences such as your line managers, sales force or employees.  While there are times when you may have specific internal messages for them, when it comes to describing your business, products and services, they too should be treated as customers.  They can be your best ambassadors and are often an organization’s largest single audience.

When you consider the customer as your audience, you are much more likely to achieve brand and business impact.  The brand impact will come from consistent message delivery, increased value perception, and improved relationships with customers and channel partners.  As your product or service becomes the solution of choice, the business impact will be manifested in increased market share, revenues, profits and market value.

So again, marketing is not about the medium.  If the message isn’t clear, it doesn’t matter whether you use your website, PPC (pay per click) advertising campaigns, email blasts, webinars or social networking.  The message has to be clear for the customer.  That’s what is most important!

Editor’s Note: Author Ray Thomas adapted this article from “Best Practices Marketing in the New Media World” that he co-authored with Andrea Coville for Chapter 4, New Media, in Reputation Management: The Key to Successful Public Relations and Corporate Communication (John Doorley and Heilo Fred Garcia, Routledge, 2007).