If you think about it, it’s pretty obvious that traditional media provides value through subsidizing content — free TV and radio programs, lower-cost magazines, and chances to win prizes. In exchange for this content or other value, we ALLOW advertisers to interrupt our day to tell us about their products.
The difference is that social media — Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc — are already FREE. So, advertisers can’t expect us to allow them to interrupt us with commercial messages. I mean, face it, no one really LIKES commercial!
So, the key to making social media work is to provide some other type of value — be it entertainment, information, support, or other types of rewards — in exchange for hearing your commercial message. And, the ratio can’t be 1:1. You HAVE to provide about 90% value to 10% commercial message. A good example is Taylor Swift. She shares cuts from her albums before they’re available in stores as well as insider information about music and bands.