Monday, October 13, 2008

Is You Tube For You?

Hello friends! As I have commented earlier, I am a bit behind, and I am making up for some missed blogs. The entry I wish to submit at this time concerns the scenario where a company decides to advertise on YouTube, and I would like to discuss the pros and cons that I have identified.

First of all, I am a non-traditional student. That meaning that I originally graduated from SMSU in 1987, and returned to work on my Master's degree in 2005. I am not dead, but I am 43 years old, and technology has advanced quite a way since I was working on my undergraduate degree. I wanted to preface my first point with this information, and I may refer to this piece of history again because it is very pertinent.

The first and biggest drawback that always comes to my mind with using online technologies such as YouTube, Blogger, etc., is if the target audience is familiar with these tools. Corporate USA is advancing at a high rate of speed, but there are still older executives out there that barely know how to log in to e-mail. As I mentioned before, I am in that generation right between, because I am familiar with personal computers and some of the online technologies, but even I, at 43 years old, am a bit frightened and anxious at the thought of having to rely totally on on-line technologies. This blogging assignment has rocked my world, so I can imagine how a 60 year-old executive might feel at suddenly starting to access YouTube for marketing applications. Bottom line, there is a segment of society that is still a bit afraid of the Internet. That is it, short and sweet.

On the flip side, hopefully some of these older executives are hiring young, fresh-faced adults to help them get acclimated to online applications or are simply in charge of doing it themselves. In the bigger markets, I would assume that is what is happening, but there are still some fairly large companies in smaller markets, such as here, and I am not sure they are recruiting like the companies in New York.

Another concern to me is the cost of all this advancing technology. Again, a business owner in Springfield, MO will likely have quite a different budget than an owner on Wall Street. From everything I have read, using on-line applications can save on things like production costs, postage, etc., but they are still expensive means of marketing and advertising. It is costly to get things set up, and it will likely take a professional designer to create them.

I could go on and on, but these are a few of my concerns. From what I have read, though, companies better get used to integrating tools such as blogs and YouTube into their marketing plans because that is what the future is bringing.

No comments: