Content Marketing will be what Social Media was in late 2000’s (& Companies will lose again)

Who remembers Social Media pre GaryVee, everyone being a Social Media specialist, or companies hiring an entire Social Media team just to figure out how this phenomenon called Social Media can help them achieve business growth?

Before Gary was screaming in the camera about how impactful Social Media is to businesses, there were the real OG’s such as Mari Smith and Frank Kern (those who know…know).

I remember it like it was yesterday (cue flashback sequence).

It was around 2008/2009. Instagram didn’t exist, LinkedIn was just a place you went to post your credentials and find jobs, and Hi5 was taking its last breath to a slow death. WhatsApp and Slack wasn’t even around as yet. It was BBM and flip phones ruling the day.

Facebook was all the rage back then, and there were two types of people: 1). Those who were on Facebook pretty much all the time, and 2). The people that thought of Facebook (and by extension Social Media) as a waste of time and nonsense.

Now some of you reading this may be too young to remember, but there was a time when companies banned the use of Social Media. They thought it was a waste of the company’s time, and employees should stick to doing “real work”.

It became so serious they put blockers on Social Media sites, and if you were caught using Social Media you could be reprimanded for it.

In retrospect I’m sure a lot of those companies feel pretty silly right about now.

They lacked the foresight and vision to see how Social Media and Social Media Marketing would have a major impact not only on their business, but in how we communicate, plus influences everything we do. Because of it these companies are now being forced to play catch up, and even after a decade they still are nowhere close to getting it.

10 years later and they haven’t learned. They’re about to make the same mistake again, this time with Content Marketing.

I mentioned that I remember it like it was yesterday right? Well I remember it so well I can vividly recall the progression and mindset change companies went through from being anti-Social Media to pro-Social Media.

1. Some consumers were heavily involved in it 2008/2009 – these were the Early Adopters from a consumer standpoint, they were the ones first on and telling everyone else to join them on this new thing called Facebook (along with email invites from every person that signed up)

2. Most companies ignored it and thought it was a waste of time – again almost every company saw Social Media as a complete waste of time and company resources, and that employees aren’t being paid to be on these ‘useless’ websites

3. Few Early Adopter companies embraced it and started winning on it – by 2010 a few forward-thinking companies saw that Social Media would be the next big thing in marketing and communication, and started hiring people to figure out how to make it work for their companies

4. The masses got onboard and started using it – by 2011 almost everyone from a consumer standpoint was on it and sharing their life experiences with their friends and family, yet some companies still thought it was a waste of time and focused on traditional media

5. Companies started paying attention but was too afraid to go all in – 12-24 months later companies started realizing that Social Media wasn’t a fad and it wasn’t going anywhere, yet they still chose to sit on the sidelines and observe because they still weren’t sure of the ROI they could extract from it or if it even made sense for them

6. It becomes too late and saturated – sadly 5 years later companies realize the value in it, decide to jump in, but because so many other brands and companies are already on it, they are stuck playing catch up and find it difficult to break through the noise of everything that’s going on

The reason why I say Content Marketing will be what Social Media was in the late 2000’s is because during the late 2000’s many companies disregarded the usefulness and impact of Social Media to the growth and the success of their business.

They failed to see that consumer behaviours were slowly shifting. They failed to see that they would no longer be the ones in control of buying decisions or brand perception, but the consumer would. They failed to see how communication and a proper Social Media presence influenced whether or not a customer chose to do business with them over their competitors.

Again 10 years later, and they’re failing to see how the impact of content and Content Marketing is the new era of how companies will be judged by consumers, and will influence whether or not they choose to do business with them.

Social Media was and still is about building trust, connection and community. Content Marketing is simply the next stage of that evolutionary process, and companies will miss out on the early opportunity to position themselves and lose again.

If I were to compare where Content Marketing is now using the same benchmark of where Social Media was back then, I would say we are right around Stage 3. Consumers are heavily involved with creating their own content for fun; a lot of companies are skeptical that Content Marketing can provide any real value to their business; there are a few Early Adopter companies that have the foresight to see the shifts in consumer behaviour and are positioning themselves to capitalize on it in the next 3-5 years.

In 2010 I was one of the early adopters of Facebook pages (remember when Facebook allowed us to create landing pages on our Facebook walls?).

I had a page called Jamaica Reformation Project that simply offered motivation and inspiration to others. It wasn’t about building brand or trying to monetize an audience. I didn't even know what that was back then. I just did it because I love blogging and I love inspiring others through my words.

The reason I mention this is because I never took it as seriously as I should have and I missed out on the major Social Media opportunity. I stopped posting, otherwise I would have built up a significantly large following and audience, and had a greater impact.

Fast forward almost 10 years later and I see the same opportunity again with Content Marketing, and this time I’m not about to miss out!

I LOVE marketing, specifically Content Marketing, with the same passion I have for inspiring others. However, I’ve learned from my mistake and this time I’m more strategic with that passion. This time I’m wiser, and taking it much more seriously than I did with Social Media. It isn’t by chance or for fun I came up with The Content Marketing Guy brand, and chose to rebrand and reposition my Social Media profiles.

Pre Twitter rebranding

Post Twitter rebranding

Pre LinkedIn rebranding

Post LinkedIn rebranding

This time I’m intentionally positioning my personal brand in order to maximize on the opportunity of Content Marketing within the next 3-5 years by getting ahead of this new trend.

I’m being completely transparent with you for one reason, to help you understand what’s about to happen so you too can position yourself from now to maximize on the opportunities Content Marketing will have for you in the future.

Whether you are a professional seeking to build a career or a business trying to grow and be successful, trust me when I say this is real. I Implore you to understand that in the future your qualifications and credentials, or having the best product or simply being online isn’t going to give you a competitive advantage, Content Marketing will.

I’ve seen it happen before, and I’m seeing it happen again.

The question now is will you be on the right side of history this time to your benefit, or will you make the same mistake and miss out on the opportunities ahead by continuing to be P.O.O.R. (Passing Over Opportunities Repeatedly).

Only time will tell.

The Content Marketing Guy

#socialmedia #socialmediamarketing #content #contentmarketing #brand #branding #thecontentmarketingguy #business #marismith #frankkern