The content marketing revolution has affected more than just the way companies communicate with the public. It has opened up an international, real-time dialogue with the public, and that means that companies get what they deserve.

Now I don’t only mean this in the negative sense, but that certainly is a part of it. Before content marketing (and its powerful counterpart, social media) a company could produce a product that was not outstanding. They would then hold a massive marketing and advertising campaign. The campaign would mean that thousands of people bought the product. Sure, they were disappointed, but the customer’s personal disappointment didn’t mean that the next guy, the next day, didn’t go out and buy that product too. 

The customers’ disappointment would eventually filter down. The public would become aware of the faults of the product and people would stop buying it. But this would only be months after the product’s launch.

Real time critique — as in before the product is launched, when it’s launched and after it’s hit the streets — means that now companies get what they deserve. If your product is flawed or faulty; if it is not user-friendly or your customer care is not top-notch, then you will fail. It won’t be months, or even days, before the cat is out the bag — it will be minutes. 

But if your product is good, relevant and includes excellence in communication and customer service, then people will talk about it. The same minutes that ruin crappy products launch great products into the stratosphere. If your company deserves success then it’ll achieve it.
Social media and content marketing has democratised big (and small) business.

One thing that helps achieve this success is relevancy. Knowing what people want now is one step towards making the chatter positive. This is a part of a total communication strategy. Listening to what people want by following various social media platforms means that your product is influenced by the customer from inception to production. Marketing is not only monitoring response (which is also very important) but can be used to ensure your product is successful before it’s even manufactured.

What do people hate or love about other, similar products? What do people wish their products had? Vigilantly following threads associated with your products or similar products is like having the biggest focus-group on earth — and you don’t even have to supply the stale finger-snacks.

After your product has launched it’s important to communicate its value. The product will stand for itself, for better or worse, but you can still make sure that people perceive its inherent value (to do this the product must, of course, have value — as I say, if you launch a crappy product no amount of flashy, colourful ads will change that). This means creating content around it. Get people involved, get them to comment, positively or negatively, and engage in the conversation.

So, if you want to succeed you need to deserve it. Create a relevant product that is backed by great customer service and is open to channels of communication. Then communicate the product’s value with high-quality content. Viola!

Do you think that business has been democratised by social media and content marketing? Does the customer have this much influence? Let us know!

Sound Idea Digital is a full service digital marketing agency that specialises in content marketing. We can develop a comprehensive content marketing strategy for your company | info@soundidea | www.soundidea.co.za