An acquaintance of mine, a young marketing manager with a medium sized business, recently told me he was going to ‘do some social media’ and asked if I had any suggestions. I told him I probably could help, but I would have to know a lot more about the business and his customers. His response? ‘What do you need to know? I just need to put some content up on Facebook or some other social media site. Easy enough, isn’t it?’
His response got me to thinking about an article I came across recently: ‘Everything the Tech World Says About Marketing is Wrong’. Much of what he laments goes well beyond the IT industry. Marketing principles have not changed – the technology has. And we tend to fall in love with the technology and forget about proven principles.
The article blasts the plethora of new marketing terms which are not really new concepts. Most industries have plenty of buzzwords that are just a new label for existing ideas and Marketing is no exception. ‘Content Marketing’, ‘Inbound Marketing’, Social Media Marketing’ – all still need to be based on tried and true marketing concepts, such as the 4 Ps (or 7Ps for service industries) or the more recently proposed 4 Cs (not to be confused with the 4 Cs of communication!). It all comes down to having the right message and product (or service) for the right customer at the right time through the right distribution channel. And although media channels have evolved, social media, email, and the web are just that – media to deliver the all important message to customers.
Technology and customer attitudes may change, and the techniques of reaching customers and measuring response are more exciting than ever – but the basics still apply.
Content Marketing is a good example. Customers have become more cynical of advertising. So the marketing message has shifted from ‘one way’ blasting of features and benefits to providing useful content that builds a relationship based on trust and problem solving.
So now content is ‘King’. But it always has been. Marketers has been creating content for centuries – in the form of advertising (which is not dead, incidentally), infomercials, product brochures, white papers, emails, social media, google ads – any sort of communication. It still requires understanding your customers and their needs and media habits – and then putting together a considered and well crafted message.
With the skyrocketing demand for ‘content’, you have to question the quality of much of what is produced these days. Just read some of the ‘content’ on Linked In. And there is a site that provides freelance services for $5 (really…$5). What kind of rehashed, poorly targeted slop do you get for $5?
Content is still a message to your customers. It has to be creative – not regurgitated. It needs to be well written and meaningful to the target audience, rather than a puff piece meant to fill space. How many times have you read a post or white paper and said ‘So what?’
Content, like any marketing communication, needs to create awareness and interest in your products and services. It requires customer insight, knowledge of competing products and services and your differentiating benefit / unique selling proposition. It requires knowledge and effort.
I am not suggesting ‘Back to Basics’ like some old school guy unwilling to accept what new technology has brought us. I am just saying let’s not forget the basics. They still form the foundation of effective marketing communications.
Ken Jure - Copywriter 