As a copy writer, I often run into businesses that are so afraid to say anything that might be construed as “real” that they fall back on “marketing gibberish” and wind up saying nothing. And that’s exactly the response it creates. Americans are so tired of empty promises and “marketing speak” that advertising of all sorts is falling on deaf ears and blind eyes.

You can recognize the new marketing paradigm or get run over by it

People really are getting frustrated with monolithic, faceless corporations that are inaccessible. They aren’t willing to accept advertising as the only point of contact with the people who provide their food and clothing, their cars, their furnishings, etc. All the recent fervor over products from China has brought home to a lot more Americans how little control they have over what they eat and use. And that they really have no idea where their products are coming from.

There has always been a small contingent of Americans who have bought into the idea that they really want to know who is growing their food and who is making their clothes. But this idea, and the discontent that is feeding it, is spreading. And woe be to the business that ignores it.

So what does this have to do with blogging?

Everything. Americans are tired of having the door shut in their face. Of feeling ignored. As a web copy writer, I see it every time someone complains to me (and I hear this a lot) that they can never find full contact information on a website. If they are lucky, there might be a contact form that you can fill out and send off into cyberspace in hopes that something comes back. Yahoo is the worst offender I know of. God help you if you want to contact anyone there.

People love the web because it gives them control. They can come to your website and if they don’t see what they want, they can go straight to your competitor.  A blog can give your customers the same sense of power and control. Even if, in reality, it’s an illusion. A blog gives people a chance to see what’s going on at the top of the company. What the top people are thinking, what’s motivating them. And it lets people know there’s a human being at the helm.

And most importantly, it gives them the feeling that they can be heard. If they have had a bad experience with your products or services, they have an outlet, a point of communication with someone that matters. People have the belief that “customer service reps” and “call centers” are designed to keep them out rather than communicate with them. And having the phone answered by someone from a foriegn country doesn’t help that perception. A blog can also give them the feeling that they can influence the products and services that companies create by having a dialog with the people hiding behind the advertising.

Blogging can improve your products and services

Blogging can give the people at the top of the firm direct contact with the only people that matter. The end users of your product or service. Running a company can isolate you from the users of your products or services.  Running any business is a 24/7/365 proposition. So any input or feedback that you get on how people react to your product or service gets filtered up the chain of command. And second or third hand information can be a dangerous tool for making business decisions.

Blogging gives you direct access to the people who matter most. Your end user.

HackingEthics

Originally posted 2007-12-24 08:35:39. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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