The Tendo View

Gone are the days when marketers could produce slick creative campaigns, then sit back and control a brand message through one-way mediums such as TV, radio, and print. The advent of new communication platforms and applications has created the opportunity for conversation between consumers and the brands and products they purchase.

This conversation is driven by content. And “content marketing” has rewritten the rules for engaging prospects and promoting products. Content marketing is all about nurturing a relationship with prospects and customers, enabling a dynamic two-way dialogue that isn’t possible with old media.

The explosion of mobile devices, led by the iPhone, netbooks, and Apple’s new iPad tablet, and social media sites, such as Facebook, Yelp, LinkedIn, and Twitter, have redefined the rules by which marketers should plan, produce, and serve content. Because nearly all of the platforms are optimized for peer-to-peer communication and publishing user-generated content, it helps to look at how these content dialogues play into the consumer experience—especially for big-ticket items.

For example, according to Forrester Research, more than 25 percent of U.S. online consumers who expect to purchase a new or used vehicle in the next year have viewed or listened to user-generated content about vehicles. That’s almost as many online consumers who got vehicle information from magazines, newspapers, and TV—combined— the last time they purchased a new vehicle.

These new platforms are rich in functionality and can enable content marketing in a variety of ways. But with new devices and applications hitting the street every day, staying on top of it all is difficult. When it comes to planning a content marketing strategy for emerging platforms, it helps to keep three things in mind: immediate, interactive, and in control.

Immediate
The next time you’re in a public place, look around. How many people are reading, texting, and scrolling away on mobile devices? People are accessing and interacting with media everywhere they go.

As marketers, you have to plan content accordingly. Is your content enabled for mobile devices? Is it optimized for a small screen? Are you taking advantage of the spontaneity that mobile devices afford?

It used to be that only exceptionally good or exceptionally bad experiences found their way online as reviews, complaints, or discussion points. Opinions that reflected the average consumer’s experience often weren’t published because the moment had passed by the time the consumer got to a computer.

Now, with the proliferation of 3G-enabled smartphones, anyone can voice an opinion or post a comment within minutes—or seconds—of an experience. The upside of this is that consumers’ ability to comment anywhere, anytime results in a more representative experience of your company’s products or services, not just the very good or very bad instances.

Interactive
Mobile applications have opened new doors for marketers to engage customers in meaningful ways. A branded interactive application that performs a useful task can do a lot to build loyalty. I can’t tell you how many times the Epi app from Epicurious has reduced my time in the supermarket when I’m stymied about dinner.

These days, brands build trust and rapport well outside product or service attributes. It wasn’t long ago that consumers purchased a particular brand of gasoline because they trusted that the product delivered reliable performance. In the future, consumers might choose a gas station because it has the best travel app for road trips.      

In control
For better or for worse, consumers have more control over brands than ever—a direct result of the Internet and its many emerging platforms. Not only can people publish blogs and broadcast their opinions to the world, but they also can comment on, rate, and review brands and companies almost the instant an opinion comes to mind.

Much of this newfound consumer power is made possible by the mobile applications and devices that make up today’s emerging platforms. The growing presence of peer-to-peer discussion as a key component of the consumer experience is compelling proof that consumers, not brand managers, are having the final say in defining a company’s brand.

Think about these three key things as you craft your content marketing strategy. With them, you have a pretty good shot at success. Without them, you may just be talking to yourself.