My daily diet consists of traditional media with a side of social, but more and more, social media has taken over the entree portion of the menu. This is the way advertising is changing for all of us and at the Radian6 Social 2011 User Conference, the discussion of integration was more rampant than a Friday night at the Cheesecake Factory. After all, mixing media is all about reaching your audience in all facets. And that includes social.

But back to the moment.

One of the breakout sessions at the conference – Build a Better Campaign: Research, Plan and Integrate – was all over this topic. The panel of marketing meccas from Ogilvy, Weber Shandwick and more presented a smorgasbord of award-winning campaigns that integrate traditional with social (i.e. OscarMayer’s @wienermobile and American Airlines’ wifi notifications).

The insights from this panel were magnificent and I was eating it up. Campaign strategies nowadays need to merge new media with the old – social with traditional. That’s how you best reach your audience. Here’s why:

• Old – Enable your audience to get in touch via a strong call to action.
• New – Push multiple touch points.

• Old – Respond to customer requests after they send them.
• New – Be there before something happens.

• Old – Traditional media is a campaign.
• New – Social media is a commitment.

• Old – Ensure paid/owned/earned media interconnects.
• New – Ensure paid/owned/earned media interconnects.

Like that last one? See, what I learned is we’re not saying everything is changing. In fact, a lot is staying the same. Community, communication, ROI, etc. are things we’ve lived by as marketers for many, many, many years (way before I was even a thought). There is a shift happening and we need to be smart about it. Then and now.

Hungry? Let’s go.

Amanda Nelson has been a New York and Connecticut advertising campaign manager for over eight years. She’s worked on all facets of advertising from interactive (her personal favorite area) to traditional media. She enjoys creating unique, on-strategy campaigns. She also enjoys her border collies, tap dancing and her husband Tom. She blogs at a-media-mix.com. @mileigh13

Tags: Advertising and Marketing, Guest Blogger, Radian6 Social 2011, Social Media