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Cave Paintings and Content Marketing
Wednesday, June 6, 2012, 3:19 AM
[General]
Today, it's called Permission Marketing.
In 1982, we had a sales and marketing automation system running on a Digital minicomputer. It sat in an air conditioned clean room. The hard drives were platters the size of big vinyl records that held a whopping 50MBs. This was not archaic; it was cutting edge, state of the art technology.
For lead generation, lead nurturing, feedback, and database updating, our staff of social PR experts used the state-of-the-art technology of the day - telephones. They called our contacts every 90 days, chatted politely, caught up on news, verified prime contact information,Cheap San Diego Charger Jerseys, and reviewed the type of content they were receiving. It was very social and excellent marketing.
Some things change. Mediums have changed and they will continue to change. In the not too distant future, FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, the iPhone, and the internet,Cheap Julio Jones Jersey, will lose popularity or go the way of the dodo.
Our customers loved it. They received high quality, current information about products and the industry free of charge. Many of our customers created libraries of loose-leaf binders filled with our marketing collateral and white papers that conveniently displayed our logo, name, and contact information. Just like a web page!
Some things never change. As sales and marketing evolve, two things will remain the same; people and their behavior. Basic human behavior remains a constant. That is why networking was, and always will be social. Because if it ain't social then it truly ain't networking.
Today, it's called Social Marketing.
My friend David Brock nearly busted his gut laughing when I said,Cheap Mike Quick Jersey, "Heck we were doing content marketing thirty years ago. It was called print and direct mail." He wasn't laughing at me, he was laughing with me, because things have not changed as much as some people would have us believe. Then David said, "You need to write this post."
As we adopt new technologies, they should be implemented as support for the core fundamentals that make sales and marketing successful.
Today, it's called Content Marketing.
Now that I've stirred the pot, I look forward to your reactions, responses, and rebukes.
I make no claim to the development of content marketing, many others used the same techniques, and still more long before us. Sears was a content marketer in the 1800s. I'm sure a merchant or two took advantage of Gutenberg's printing press during the renaissance, and content marketing's roots may be in cave paintings. Social Marketing and Social Networking were practiced in the most rudimentary forms in the first marketplaces.
With the help of the content marketing, social marketing, and social networking mediums of the day, we became trusted experts and advisors long before our competition entered the hunt. We sold manufacturing equipment, but our product was information and relationships.
Everyone in our database was there because they wanted to be there. We only sent what the customer wanted. If they were looking for green boots, they received content related to green boots; not socks or blue sneakers. And when they no longer wanted our propaganda, we stopped sending it.
Networking took place at trade shows, association meetings, elevators, golf courses, squash courts,Cheap Alex Smith Jersey, bridge clubs, watering holes, and any venue where business people congregated. It was as social as social gets.
When we made complex sales by telephone in 1982,Cheap DeMarcus Ware Jersey, our competition called sacrilegious. Now it's archaic. Today, the majority of marketing and networking occurs on the internet. Some people thought it blasphemous; now everyone is climbing aboard.
Today, it's called Social Networking.
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