Before cable television we had three TV channels, a daily newspaper (or two if you were lucky) and a couple of monthly or quarterly magazines. Then came hundreds of cable channels, tailored to our individual interests. Pretty soon, we were able to rent movies via the phone jack in our house, and then record shows for when it was convenient for us to watch and skip advertisements with TiVo.
Then blogs. Glorious blogs – they wrote about niche things we were interested in and covered details that we couldn’t read anywhere else. News began to be delivered to us at the click of a mouse, and eventually we started talking to each other and sharing even more niche ideas on social networks (i.e., Denver photography tweet up, anyone?).
We’ve been experiencing a 50 year movement where people are choosing precisely the media they want to consume and when they consume it (rather than being forced to consume what the media wants them to read/see and when they see it).
One of the overarching themes at South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) this year was “people want choices of how and when they consume content.” To be sure, this isn’t a new concept. But the tools we have at our fingertips to deliver on the “how” and “when” create amazing opportunities to connect with your customer.
From Burberry’s custom fashion show to consumers skipping corporate transactions and working directly with each other – today’s successful business concepts, marketing campaigns and social media strategies all have one thing in common: they’re giving the customer exactly what they want. That should be the first thing any company or organization thinks about when preparing a social media or digital strategy.
It’s the consumer’s world, we’re just living in it. What does your consumer want from you?
~ Jim Licko
