Saturday, October 8, 2011

All over the yard

It's a strange and crazy world of media these days. Personal social media, TV, radio, interactive banners, text links, paid social media, blog sponsorships, paid social media ads...how can anyone keep track of it all, much less ensure the content you push is of sufficient quality? And, let's not forget about accountability.

Research helps, but honestly, how much time does that require and where's the time coming from? Generally, it's more time than one has available to spend on it.

What's the key to what you do? Consistency with the core value(s) of your brand or the brand you are trying to promote. When you're representing a client, LISTEN to what they have to say - look at the feedback their customer base has been providing...these are some of your critical keys. This is one of the lessons social media can take credit for hammering home - listening is a fundamental skill that has only grown in importance.

Couple this approach to the creation of your message with frequent, high quality content. Too often, we see a tendency to advertise a given theme over and over until the message is falling on deaf ears. They "get it" people and you can't keep beating the same drum over and over. Too often, we worry about the medium in which we reach people, rather than the content we are pushing out there.

Take Aspen Skiing Company for example. The web site content is high quality and it changes constantly. Their social media content changes constantly and it's high quality. They have created the feeling that if you don't keep an eye on what they are doing, you are going to miss something...and it might well be something you want, or even better, need to know, see or do. This sort of sense of "urgency" has been created with hard work and, more importantly, a high level of understanding about how people think, how long they pay attention and what really matters to their customer base. They listen and because they do, they "get it." It's a great example to follow.

Keep in mind one thing: no one has all the answers. Just look for and at those who are always looking to be better - to listen constantly, to think things through and who know creativity, fresh content and new ideas are what work, regardless of the actual medium.

Well, those are the media ramblings of the wizard who can't sleep this morning...stay tuned to this channel for the next installment of the ramblings of a sleepless mind....peace.


No comments:

Post a Comment