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Lately, we've been talking about the true cost of media. First, what is media, who creates it, how is it delivered? and how much should we pay for it? As we look towards 2012, there are some important decisions we need to make as marketers. Are you ready to invest in media?What is Media?A quick recap. It used to be well, media. Newspapers, magazines, radio and television dominated our lives. And it only went one way. Publisher to consumer. Now, it's tweets and facebook updates, blogs and foursquare check-ins, comments and likes, ratings, and much much more. Now more than ever, every action you take online can be considered media, or as we marketers call it, a valuable piece of content that can be interacted with- and not just in one direction...Who Creates it?Thanks to the digital world we live in, anyone can create it. And now there are different types, right? There's earned, owned and paid. This two year old blog post from Forrester is still relevant today.How is it Delivered? This is where it gets exciting, and what we as marketers should pay attention to. It's not just the newspaper, website or email blast. It's coming to us fast and furious where and when we want it. Try out these stats for size.
  • By 2013, Gartner estimates that the installed based of smartphone users (1.82 billion) will surpass desktop computers (1.78 billion)
  • 11% of Adults already own a tablet computer , and 77% of these tablet users use it everyday, on average, for 90 minutes a day (via Hubspot)
  • In 2012, 50% of Facebooks 800 million users will use Facebook via their mobile device (via Facebook)
  • 25% of US Mobile users never or infrequently use the desktop web  (via Mobithinking)
How much should we pay for it?Newspapers have been thinking about this for years, and as digital marketers, since every morsel of digital content out there is media, we need to think carefully about the cost that goes into it.
  • Earned Media: Your crowdsourced/user-generated/social media.  It doesn't make itself. It needs constant nurturing, community building, empowerment and more. Your presence on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn and other online platforms needs dedicated resources. Who is going to do this, and how much are you willing to invest in this?
  • Owned: This is your company's content. Are you churning out curated, targeted social friendly content on a regular basis?
  • Paid:  Your online advertising. Are you paying attention to ads optimized for mobile phones and tablets? Does it play well with social?
 Media at HomePay very close attention to this. By 2014, Your internet bill will be more than your cable bill. Why pay for a cable package when you can buy your media "a la carte" with Netfliz, Amazon and Google? When Steve Job's pet project, the Apple TV, comes out, we may not even need Comcast, Time Warner and Verizon. Just look at the facts here and here. So, are you ready for 2012?