Today’s digital technology has brought about a sea change in how businesses and prospects interact.

Unlike the old days of marketing, where a business was (largely) in control of the way their image was projected to the outside world, today’s marketing paradigm has the consumer in the proverbial driver’s seat. It’s the consumer who now decides what she needs to know in order to make her buying decisions, and she’ll go get that knowledge herself, thank you very much. And chances are, it’s not some flashy campaign or clever tagline that’ll do the trick.  Rather, it’s genuine engagement and transparency that will win her over.

The world communicates differently now—this isn’t a secret and it isn’t news. But old habits die hard, especially in marketing. With all manner of digital communication allowing information to transfer from one source to another faster than ever, this New Marketing Paradigm is one where…

1. A consumer now has the ability – and even the expectation – to learn a lot about your brand long before she will ever do business with you.
2. Two-way conversations between consumer and business are now the norm.
3. Transparency and trust are non-negotiable when it comes to winning (and keeping) a customer.

Check Out Before Check Out

The Old Marketing Paradigm:

In the past, the traditional advertising and marketing paradigm were about crafting a clever message, tagline, logo, or campaign…a message so unique and wonderful that it would compel the consumer to get out their wallet. Anyone who’s seen “Mad Men” will be familiar with the approach: “We are going to tell you what you want to hear, and when it works, you are going to come and do business with us.”

Well, dear marketer, gone are the days where you can mesmerize your customers into buying from you.

The New Marketing Paradigm:

With the explosion of social media like blogs, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and review sites, a potential customer will not be so easily wooed.  They now have the power at their fingertips do quite a bit of sleuthing before handing over their hard-earned dough. They’ll check out your website and blog to see if what you believe in is what they believe in. They’ll check out review sites to learn what others’ interactions with you have been like. They’ll ask their friends on Facebook or their connections on LinkedIn for recommendations. And guess what?  They can do all that without ever interacting with you directly!

So in the New Marketing Paradigm, your marketing efforts MUST include a plan for establishing and maintaining a polished and authentic digital presence. Your website, blog and other social channels need fresh and consistent content that shows your potential customer what it will be like to work with you.

Social Channels are for Conversations

The Old Marketing Paradigm:

Under the Old Marketing Paradigm, marketing and advertising was thought of in terms of one-way messaging.  Your brilliant marketing campaign – that you created and had control over – would be broadcast via one-way channels like TV, radio and print.  And when your campaign didn’t work as planned, or when you wanted to try a new approach or even change your very identity, you could simply ‘turn off’ the old message and reinvent your brand with a new one.  And because you had so much control over what was said, to whom it was being said, and when they would hear it, you could (with some degree of certainty) measure the return on your advertising investment.

My how times have changed.

The New Marketing Paradigm:

Marketing your brand is no longer about broadcasting your super-creative messages to a targeted group of recipients.  Success under the New Marketing Paradigm is about engaging consumers (and prospects) in an actual, genuine, two-way conversation, allowing them to get to know you before, during and even after it’s time for them to buy.

Social channels like Facebook, Twitter and even your own blog now provide the perfect venue for this kind of interaction. Your customers and prospects are already spending a significant amount of time there, asking questions and having a two-way dialogue, so you’ll want to make sure you’re there, too, being a part of the conversation. And although marketing in this way might be a lot of work, it has two distinct advantages:

1. Loyalty – Two-way social marketing enables you to develop meaningful relationships with your customers, and the more meaningful the relationship, the more loyal the customer tends to be.
2. Intelligence – Every conversation is like a mini-focus group, allowing you to learn about what is important to your customers and prospects. Businesses pay research companies HUGE money to learn about the preferences and dislikes of their customers.  For the first time in history, your own social channels offer you ready access to such crucial information. All you’ve got to do is ask.  You’ll be amazed at how forthcoming your customers are with meaningful info that will ultimately enable you to serve them even better.

And while it may feel like you have less control in this New Marketing Paradigm, you actually can control (and even measure the impact of) what is being said about you…by simply being present and being yourself.

And speaking of ‘being yourself’…

Welcome to the Age of Transparency

The Old Marketing Paradigm:

In the Old Marketing Paradigm you never got any measurable feedback from a customer until they bought or complained.  Similarly, under that old paradigm, customer ‘issues’ were addressed behind closed doors, one customer at a time. Here’s how it used to work:  a disgruntled customer would make a call or send an email, it would be forwarded to a customer service specialist who was specially trained to handle such matters, and the specialist would respond directly to that customer with a resolution. No one (except for that particular customer) ever knew how well (or badly) your business dealt with its customers.

So what does customer service look like under the New Marketing Paradigm?

The New Marketing Paradigm:

Like it or not, we have entered the Age of Transparency. More than ever before, there’s an alarming amount of information readily available for all the world to see about each of us (have you ever tried Googling your own name?). Whether it’s personal info (like photos tagged on Facebook) or business-related info (like reviews or discussions on social media), in this new social media driven world it’s simply not possible to keep your laundry (dirty or otherwise) to yourself.

Now a customer can and will comment or complain in a wide variety of public forums. And more importantly, everyone else, including any prospective customers, will be watching to see how you respond. Those brands who admit mistakes and demonstrate a genuine desire to rectify them will win more loyal customers than those brands who don’t.

Contrary to what some might think, transparency isn’t necessarily bad for business. In fact, it’s actually an opportunity to connect with your customers in a deeper more meaningful way, as well as a chance to set yourself apart from your competitors. So embrace this new Age of Transparency and just be real. It’s what your customers actually want from you.

Adapting to a whole new way of marketing can be challenging and even frustrating. But this New Marketing Paradigm also brings new opportunities to learn about and interact with your customers like never before.  So make a plan, put in the extra hours, and, most of all, participate in this New Marketing Paradigm—the consumer world wants to hear from you. And if you feel you need a little extra help getting (and keeping) those conversations going, get a hold of us. We’d love to have a two-way conversation with YOU!

You’d like to run a simple social media campaign to increase your visibility and attract some new customers. You probably have at least a couple of platforms; Facebook, Twitter, perhaps Instagram—and you want to make sure you’re maximizing your content reach and impact within each. A quick Google search on how to most efficiently use Facebook’s ever-changing social media algorithms stops you short: The results make your head spin. See: 9 Ways to Outsmart the Facebook Algorithm in 2018. And Facebook Is Changing. What Does That Mean for Your News Feed? The list goes on.

So, you immerse yourself in the latest articles and instructional posts to get a sense of how to navigate the labyrinth. Just when you think you’ve learned how Instagram and Twitter choose to display the content of the accounts you follow, you realize you didn’t really have a good understanding of their selection process at all.

Worse still, you’ve wasted precious time.

As a marketer who regularly uses and is intimate with these channels, I can confirm it’s often a full-time job trying to keep up. However, rest easy with the knowledge that we can offer some solace if you’re growing weary of the ever-present need to change your game just to get exposure.

Consider this the end of the indoctrination period you never really needed.

The new age of online marketing

You CAN reach your intended audience and foster the business you’re working hard for, without subscribing to the ever-changing cheats, codes, and secret rules of social media algorithms. It’s simpler than you think:

• STOP worrying about exposure.
• START focusing on the real people you’re trying to reach.
• And accept the fact that those people, the real individuals whose relationships are important to your business, don’t need to be exposed to a generalized broadcast—they just need to hear from YOU.

Investing in your business relationships directly, instead of using intricate and elaborate social media campaigns and automation services, will pay more dividends later on.

This means showing your customer who you are, as genuinely as possible. Even if this comes across as unpolished and informal, it will serve to increase your authenticity and, therefore, trustworthiness.

No one wants to hear from bots.

I think of it as taking the high road. If you think of your marketing like a moral compass, you can trust in the fact that saying and doing what you feel is kind, respectful, and true, will rarely do you wrong.

Now, that’s not to say that just being nice to those people who represent your critical business relationships will get you all the way to your goal.

For that, you need a process.

You might be thinking, “You just said that marketing automation and mass communication aren’t the keys to success.” To that, I would say, “Correct.” But keep in mind that automation and process are not the same.

Digital Marketing: Decoded

It is possible to conduct genuine and systematized one-on-one outreach to the most important people in your universe. In fact, most everyone creates processes for this very purpose all the time—they’re just so ingrained into our daily lives that it’s hard to recognize them as such.

Every time you add a loved one’s birthday to your calendar you’re following a process to help you nurture your relationship with that person.

Side note: Social media has simplified aspects of this for us—but at a cost. Facebook reminds you when it’s someone’s birthday. It even offers pre-made videos you can share in lieu of a card. But don’t these things begin to feel disingenuous and transparent?

I don’t mean to sound old-fashioned, but you know what’s way better than getting a cookie cutter Facebook video on your birthday? Getting a phone call and Chinese takeout.

Don’t go it alone

Next time you find yourself face-palming over the complexities of social media algorithm flux and ad-word optimization, remember that maintaining a steady, true, moral marketing compass will help you navigate those woods.

The even better news: You don’t have to do it alone. We’ve got relationship maintenance and process planning expertise a plenty to offer entrepreneurs, business owners, or mid-sized businesses who’re coming into their own.

So get a hold of us. We’ll show you how we work with individuals and teams to help them better understand their own communication styles, and apply those principles in a harmonious, orderly, driven way.

Keeping your digital channels full of fresh, on-brand content requires a great content writer. Often times this job is handed over to an intern (because she knows her way around social media) or an administrative assistant (because he’s got time between answering phone calls).

We hate to see businesses fall into this trap. Finding someone who has the right experience and is qualified to speak on your company’s behalf is key. These seven guidelines help us (and can help you) evaluate and chose content writers.

1. Fundamental understanding of your business challenges and goals
Being a good writer isn’t enough. Whoever writes your social media marketing content must know what its ultimate purpose is, whether it’s to generate leads, acquire new customers, or give people enough information to choose your company over the competition. Without an understanding of precisely how the content on social media is supposed to improve your business, the person responsible for writing it is probably going to fail at the job.

2. Understanding of your marketing strategy
It’s important to differentiate between a goal and a strategy. Your marketing goal might be to sell 1,000 widgets in the current quarter. Your marketing strategy involves how you’re going to reach that goal. The person responsible for writing social media content must understand how to execute that strategy on each of the various platforms you want to use. Your company’s marketing strategy will also affect the tone and style used on different platforms. One approach might work fine for a blog post but fail miserably with a downloadable e-book. A qualified content writer will know which approach is right.

3. Understanding of the audience
Ideally find someone who is (or has been) a customer or client of your business. The content writer needs to understand who they are writing for, and what better way than to actually have used your product or services. In any case, the content writer must understand the audience’s psyche and how to motivate them. If they don’t, it will be very difficult for them to write content that is compelling and effective.

4. Understanding of the technical aspects of your business
Every business has its jargon, its technical terms, and its complex concepts that are confusing to people not intimately familiar with the business. If your audience is other people in your business or industry, your content writer has to communicate like an insider. You can’t fake it—an expert audience will spot an amateur right away.

5. Ability to communicate complex concepts concisely
This can be a tricky line to navigate. How can you make it easy for the audience to understand your overall business, or the aspect of your business that you’re trying to communicate, while you still execute your desired marketing strategy? Fortunately, this is a skill you can test. Give a prospective candidate something to write about and see what they can do.

6. Excellent communication skills
This is different from tip #5. This is about the nuts and bolts of writing: grammar and spelling, choosing the proper tone, and getting the right words in the right places. You can test this, too, by asking to see samples of a candidate’s past work, or by giving the candidate a writing assignment.

7. Ability to generate original content
The massive size of the online world makes plagiarism easy. But you don’t want your business caught stealing someone else’s online content. It’s unethical, and not only that, content that’s not generated directly by someone who understands your marketing goals and strategies probably won’t accomplish the desired effect anyway. Your content writer should be an original thinker with lots of ideas (and you should have safeguards in place to spot plagiarism).

Indeed, effective content writing is a set of specialized skills and you need just the right person to be responsible for communicating the essence of your brand to the world.

Interactive marketing—especially when using social media platforms—has become a powerful and proven way to engage customers and build relationships that can be converted into sustained, profitable business growth.

The downside of marketing through social media? Just this: Social media channels are hungry critters. They constantly crave inventive, informative, original content—not recycled “filler.”

If you don’t feed them regularly—in some cases, daily—they won’t behave the way you want them to. And you won’t get the results you’re looking for.

In the world of social media marketing, relationships are king, and content is the currency you trade for your prospects’ time and attention.  That’s why the source of your content marketing—you pool of writing talent—is critical to maintaining the steady flow of information that social media demands, and your readers expect.

One writer is not going to be enough

Trying to maintain an effective social media program with a single writer—or two or three—is a strategy for frustration. And burn-out. Imagine a grocery store trying to meet its customers’ needs by relying on the produce of a single farmer. Common sense tells you that strategy won’t work long-term. The same dynamics apply to producing content for social media.

High-quality content is what keeps your readers coming back. How do you keep it flowing? Inevitably, you’re going to need the diversity and depth of a team of writers. Weigh the following factors for keeping your social media content as appealing and as valued as the products or services you’re looking to sell.

Social media demands expertise

Social media is subject-matter intensive. Readers will know immediately whether the writer has deep expertise in the category, and a deep understanding of what the category means to them. And if the writer you’ve relied on walks out the door to join a commune, where will you recruit a replacement? Your writing team should include backups who have already worked in, and written for, your category. Your blog is no place for a writer to “learn” about your product, or your customers.

Social media demands availability

Social media can be a stern task-master. It doesn’t understand—or care—about sick days or vacations or holidays. The writing has to get done and go live regardless of personal issues or scheduling conflicts. That’s why you need to draw from a writing team that can cover any contingency.

Social media demands the right personality for your audience

Every blog post, every tweet, every Facebook exchange should reflect the personality of your brand, and align with the preferred tastes of your readers. All writers come with strengths and weaknesses. Humorous or technical? Straight arrow or controversial? “One size fits all” went out with the Model-T. That’s true for your messages to the marketplace, and for the writers who craft them. You need to be able to draw from a diverse pool of writing styles and personalities to assure that your social media content is right for the moment, and reflects what’s appropriate for your brand and your buyers.

More proven options equal more content marketing success

It’s about finding and maintaining a critical mass in the depth and diversity of the writing pool you rely on. Compromise on the scope of your writing resources, and you’ll limit the return on your online marketing investment.

“Critical mass” is why at Civilis, we maintain a broad network of writers whose diverse talents and experience can provide an on-point match for any social media or messaging need. Our clients don’t have to recruit them. We already have. It’s a business model that makes social media marketing more manageable…and more profitable.

If you’ve got a figurative barn to raise, and would welcome the help of our village, give us a call.

This article is part of the 7 Deadly Sins of Relationship-Based Marketing series. In the series, we’ll chronicle different online behaviors and practices that can ruin your business relationships. Some are subtle, and some not so much. If the success of your business relies on maintaining healthy relationships with current clients, prospects, or a network of referrers, it could be time you start repenting.

Let’s talk about extroverts: We all know that one guy or gal who is always up at 4:45 a.m. hitting the gym and rushing off to a 7:00 a.m. networking meeting, followed by coffee with a potential client, lunch with an existing client, and then second lunch with a hopeful partner. That’s a lot of face time before noon.

And let’s be honest, we’re not all wired that way.

For those of you who don’t thrive on having eight meetings before noon, the temptation to hide your head in the sand can slowly take over and leave you wondering who else, or what else could help you make all those touches.

A business relationship is a relationship with you

If you own or manage a small-to-mid-sized business, you know first-hand the value of the people in your network.

Whether they are customers, employees, clients, vendors or any other business associate, they see value in doing business with you. It’s value you’ve earned over time, probably by delivering as promised again and again.

As long as you keep these people feeling important and respected, it’s going to be difficult for competitors to pry them away.

No business relationship can survive on marketing automation alone

You’ve spent years cultivating business relationships with some people, and in that time, they’ve become your brand’s most vocal advocates. Don’t insult them by reducing your conversations to one-way blasts about tomorrow’s early-bird specials.

They want to know about your family, your interests, your large-scale plans for the direction of your business. They want to share their ideas with you, as well as their own interests and milestones. Passing them off as mere sales leads is only going to reveal that you value them as resources only, and not as people. They will respond in kind by demoting your brand from essential to a commodity.

At times, it might feel like keeping track of all these people and maintaining a personal connection can become a tough balancing act. Each person becomes a hot potato you would just as soon pass along to someone (or something) else. That feeling is completely natural, but just remember that your email newsletter isn’t going to ask people how their summer has been, how their kids are doing, or what big changes they’ve seen in their industry—only a human interaction can meet those needs.

Go on and hold that hot potato

We’ve seen it time and time again: Clients who come to us for marketing automation solutions partly because they want more business (who doesn’t), but are often feeling overwhelmed with the responsibility of maintaining the relationships they need to expand. They’re looking for automation to cover all their bases and get in front of as many people as possible.

Often, we find that it’s that owner or CEO’s personality that earned much of their company’s success in the first place. And to replicate that success, they’d need a clone to allow them to be in more places and be having more conversations at one time.

Don’t get us wrong: We believe marketing automation does have its uses. For reach and consistency, and keeping your audience in the loop about your brand, it’s a fantastic tool. But it really doesn’t demonstrate a heart-felt concern for the people you serve, and can even expose your brand as one whose caring depends on the crutch of convenience.

We help clients be more present, and in ways more genuine than social media strategies and digital ad campaigns allow. We help people transition from feeling spread too thin to being set firmly on a proven path to sustained growth. Let us show you how it’s done.