My wife is a webmaster and she just doesn’t get the whole social networking thing. I mean, she really doesn’t get it. Especially as it relates to companies. Why, she questions, would a company want to use a service like Twitter?

Why indeed?

Social networking is all about relationships. As a rule, in the past, big companies seemed very distant to their customers and clients. PR firms could work hard to put the best public face on the company, but for many outside the company, connecting with the company was difficult at best and impossible in most cases. Much of what the company would want its potential customers and clients to know was never available or communicated.

Then, social networking appeared on the Internet. At first, it seemed like one more way for individuals to stay in touch and meet new friends. Twitter allowed people the ability to tell the story of their daily lives in succinct soundbites. (or wordbites, if you will………you heard the term here first…at least applied to Twitter). Facebook and MySpace allowed people the ability to create a promotion page reflecting their likes, dislikes and a glimpse into their lives.

It wasn’t long before some smart marketing and PR people saw the value of social networking and its implications for companies of all sizes. They reasoned that if you really want to connect with your customers and potential customers, this was a very personal way of doing so. In the process, social networking crossed the line from being about individuals to being about companies also. Companies also learned that they could create a ‘buzz’ about their products or services and that the buzz was infectious……….in a good way.

While social networking sites are a great source of promotion and public relations, they are also the perfect non-traditional method for people to connect with companies. Those same foreboding mega-giants that seemed unapproachable, are suddenly, right there. You really don’t have to understand Tweeting…….just the concept of connecting.

So when my wife questions ‘why,’ she just needs to look at Plaxo or LinkedIn or Facebook or Twitter or Youtube or a couple of dozen others, and ask ‘what.’ What are these companies saying and what are consumers saying in return? That’s what it’s all about.

Trashy content has become a trend.  It’s loud, insulting and predictable, but trashy content can be found on hundreds, if not thousands, of websites.

What is trashy content?  Trashy content uses large fonts, screaming headlines, dire warnings and fake testimonials.  It is supposed to be a mega-conversion tool, but what does it say about the company that puts it front and center?  If a company’s brand and image are its calling card,  then what does trashy content say about the company?

Scream today; gone tomorrow

In the world of trendy marketing, company owners and marketing managers are asked not to look beyond the end of their noses.  Screaming, dismal, contrived copy and content are supposed to sell products and services with slam-dunk results.  The look of this trashy content places the image of the company firmly in the back seat.  Astute observers of on-line marketing will notice that no successful, brand-name company uses this approach.

Today, the service marketplaces are filled with projects tasking ‘writers’ with writing trashy content and copy.  These ‘writers’ copy the style of some trend-setting copywriters, whose own bios are wrought with unsubstantiated statements of success.

These small-business owners, longing for the trendy copy and content are much like the lemmings being led into the sea.  They are sacrificing image and brand-building for trashy content and copy; the perception that this will lead to giant sales gains brands their company as pitiful and short-lived.  The result of a homepage with trashy content or a piece of marketing collateral with trashy copy is a company that is here today and gone tomorrow.

How did big companies get BIG?

You can search through the websites of every major company in the U.S., Europe and Asia and you won’t find a single page of trashy content.  How do these companies sell billions in products and services without a paragraph of trashy content?  They understand brand-building and public image and they avoid trashy content like the plague.

The smart, informed small-business owner takes another approach.  They understand that they must differentiate their offering and brand their company by using tried-and-true marketing techniques.  They understand that carefully crafted sales language, that maintains the integrity of their website and company image, will provide sustained results over time.

Do you still own your pet rock?

The pet rock was a trend.  It made millions for its inventor, but it left purchasers with a rock that was eventually discarded.  Trends remain trends and the trashy content and copy purchased today will inevitably be a waste of money.  While it may convince a few people to buy a product or service, it will do nothing to sustain a business and give it a bright future.

Content that is carefully conceived and developed using consumer psychology, keywords, a needs/benefits approach and an emphasis on image and brand will always endure.  Quality copywriting and content development is for those who can see beyond the end of their nose.  Those companies that build and sustain a public image realize great success; trends may help their products but trends will never influence their content or copy.

Seek quality writing and build a brand that endures.  Contact us today.

© 2009  K Richard Douglas