Every so often you read something that just makes you stop and remember the basics. Today, I was reading a blog from Coleman Management titled, Yes, We can Control the Message. It brings up a great point about how things change - and stay the same. And how as marketers, we can't forget the basics, regardless of how far the message distribution tools and methodologies have come.
Interactive channels are by their nature, interactive. You get feedback much faster - and customers share their experiences much faster - but it does not replace good marketing and basic research before you put things out there. Trial balloons float forever in the blogosphere and social networks. If your messages are not aligned with the reality of your product or service, then as Emily Coleman points out in her blog, the marketer has done a poor job - and there is nowhere to hide.
Test your product, or service, or website or app before you finalize your communications strategy. Make sure it resonates with your target audience. And make sure that it really is as fast, easy, powerful, intuitive, rugged or otherwise as good as you claim. Whether you market through interactive channels or not, your customers do, and they will call you on your inaccuracies faster than they did before - so get it right (or at least as close to right as you can, given your resources) the first time and then actually read what your customers say, share, tweet and post and "fine tune" as required.
A little bit of good old fashioned marketing know how can go a long way before you commit your messages to digital ink and start the conversation with your customers. You CAN control the ORIGINAL message, but once the interactions begin, if the messaging cuffs don't match the real user experience collar, then as Ms. Coleman points out, as marketer's we have failed.
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