We, as people, (and marketers) love to communicate with each other.  Relationships and friends are what this life is all about.  The deeper levels of communication we have with those around us, the deeper the bonds can form.  We will always be communicating regardless of how we engage, but as technology changes it is imperative that we be versatile to change with it.

Don’t Ignore New Channels

The telegraph changed the way we communicated.  No longer did we rely on riders and horses to deliver messages.  Can you imagine someone that had access to the telegraph, but denied using it because they thought it would be a fad.  Some businesses have this kind of mentality when it comes to social media, mobile marketing, etc.  Although they could be correct and Facebook, like MySpace, could be a fad, but to ignore the channel of communications that are indeed working now is not a great idea.  Businesses should definitely look beyond Facebook when analyzing their marketing.

Content in Channels Changes Too

Not only could channels come and go, but how to use those channels is constantly evolving also.  I can remember when Facebook was filled with status updates and quotes.  The messages that were conveyed were usually in word format.  Now when you view your Facebook wall, it is usually filled with memes, photos, and videos.  Not that this is a bad thing, but you can see the culture of how people communicate is changing.  This can be seen with the proliferation of Pinterest too which is nothing but pictures and videos.

How Can a Business Owner Keep Up

The best course of action a business can take in these ever-changing times is to analyze, plan, and monitor.

• Analyze – Looking at your business and realizing that you can’t be everywhere at once is the first step.  Take a look at all the platforms available to you and which one best fits your business model.
  
• Plan – Once you identify the marketing channel and the best form of communication on that channel, plan your strategy.  Take into consideration what kind of content you want to produce and the best way to engage your audience through that channel.
• Monitor – Once your plan is put into action, make sure that you can monitor the activity that goes on there.  This will, in turn, recycle itself back to analyzing and thus the cycle starts again.  One of the best tips I can give is to manage your social media time.

As an aspiring business owner, keeping in contact with your customers is very important.  The best way to communicate with them is to find out where they are, what they are talking about and join the conversation.  Content marketing isn’t a hard sell.  It is joining and engaging your audience and letting them know who you are and what you support.

Sometimes it’s important to get started with the help of experts and we love to help.  If you want answers regarding your own marketing efforts click here and we will provide you with a free digital marketing analysis.