I've been talking with colleagues about successful communications versus unsuccessful messaging. Its funny how many companies, even with the rampant use of social media, still define a message and push it across all platforms regardless of relevance or context. There is a lot of online discussion about the voice of the customer. Imagine - the customer has a voice! The customer has interests, questions, concerns and opininions that he would like to have addressed by vendors.
Does your company invest in research to understand its customers needs? I'm sure it does. Does your marketing reflect those insights? It should. However, many times marketers get caught up in supporting a corporate message that doesn't actually resonate with their customers. They deliver this message across every communications channel, regardless the kind of information the customer may really want to consume.
For example, should a blog consistently reiterate feature and functionality of a companies products? Or would it be more interesting to discuss market trends that influence product functionality? Instead of only tweeting links to product information, it might be interesting to debate industry announcements. The goal is to align the right content to the right channel to the customers using that channel.
The social web provides tools and platforms to gain insight to what your customers, competitors and industry influencers are saying and where they are saying it. The most robust tools can be expensive and they don't necessarily make it easy to interpret all the data gathered, but they can provide insight into trending topics which should be addressed by your content marketing. Don't forget social media is supposed to be about authenticity and transparency. Simple reinforcement of existing marketing messages isn't enough to drive increased customer interaction which can lead to leads and ultimately to customer acquisition.
Take the time to listen to your customers' online interactions. Then take more time and think about the context of what they are saying and how they are saying it. I bet you will gain some valuable insights that may surprise you!
What's your perspective?
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