Becoming A Media Company Is About Being Better Than A Media Company
For small business to be successful we need to change mindset by becoming a media company.
Not only do we need to change our mindset but to understand media better than media companies. The biggest strengths we have over lager companies is that we can be faster, more social and create a voice of our own. Speed now wins.
How We Can Trump The Big Boys
Freedom presents small business with the complete opposite of the larger company with no barriers to procurement, PR, logistics or a tiered decision process before a message is distributed. Even better, it becomes easier for others to get to know our personalities a bit more and whether we take the approach of a formal, straight to the point or a more relaxed tone of voice, at least others can acknowledge what we stand for and our humanity.
When we make that step to embrace becoming a media company and our personality is defined we can manage the content we produce in a flexible way across multiple channels. The control, creation and distribution of information is a skilled approach that is down to us as businesses to identify what works best for our audience and the preferred formats to consume what we produce.
Continual Access To Our Audience
The biggest change in the world of marketing in the past ten years has been the ability to have continual access to our audience. This is such a powerful opportunity, but can become easy to mismanage or an approach that is bereft of strategy or meaning. Many companies still take this approach, where there is a total lack of personality, humility and nothing interesting to say. The ability to build a conversation with others and to help solve problems, rather than broadcasting product merits to many is still something that needs to be grasped.
Success for small business is down to the ability to adapt and evolve as the world progresses. No one can predict what the future will bring (no matter how many years Google Glasses will be in the early adopter stage!). Similarly, when looking back before 2007 could anyone have predicted the impact that the iPhone would make on the way we consume and share information forever?
There’s Too Much Going On
Everything is moving faster, according to Search Engine Journal, 72% of all internet users are now active on social media channels and 93% of marketers use social media for business. Without going into too much detail relating to large numbers and drastic change, everything has just stepped up from a leisurely run and then realising that everyone else has been training for a marathon.
The world currently has too much going on, where there is too much content, too much media, across too many platforms to share. What we have to accomplish as businesses is to understand what is relevant to our audience and target useful information where they can filter out the noise arriving from the competition and to absorb what is meaningful to them (and on their terms).
Starting To Round Up
To step up and be regarded as a media company is a long-term strategy as opposed to a ‘tried it for three months and it didn’t work’ mentality. A successful mindset is about longevity and the platforms that suit you. The one thing everyone needs to remember is quite simply, it’s all about people.
Be interesting to know the platforms that work for you. Is digital the only way forward or is using traditional forms of communication still effective when used creatively (rather than clinging to nostalgia)? Be interesting to read your thoughts.
