Is it just me, or is the buzz surrounding Social Media deafening? It seems not a day goes by where I'm not invited to a LinkedIn seminar, a social media workshop, a Twitterfest. I've even heard recent tales of businesses that are throwing all their marketing dollars to the Internet Winds.

Everyone take a deep breath, relax and read on.

Social media has a role in communications, for sure. Lookie here, I'm blogging to get this message out. However, I would argue that many of us in the communications business - whether on the agency side or client side - are inflating the role of social media to the detriment of effective marketing.

Recently, I conducted a media-training workshop in Madison for Walmart managers. In preparing for the class, I came across various articles and media trend research, including a recent study of the public's media usage. The 2008 study, conducted by Ketchum and USC Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center, indicates that while online/social media usage is certainly trending upwards and that the use of traditional media - print and broadcast - is trending downwards, traditional media are still where the majority of Americans are getting their news and information. Send me a note, and I'll send you the study.

So, I take this opportunity to remind us all that as we are considering which media to use to get our messages and stories told, we can not afford to neglect print and broadcast. The most successful PR and marketing campaigns will be those that are customized based on objectives, targeted audience, effective messaging and solid execution.

Bye for now. Time for me to post a Tweet!