Tired of marketing ideology? The endless demagoguery about certain techniques that are in fashion?
A clear example is the “permission marketing” meme that marketers such as Seth Godin popularize which has been embraced widely by young marketers.
This meme states that it is evil and wrong and not useful, nor effective, to interrupt anyone with your marketing. The thinking goes that you must insert yourself seamlessly into your target market’s thinking and decision process with content marketing and social media.
Is the internet a huge place? Is it damned near impossible to command anyone’s attention? Tough! You’re doing it wrong! Loser!
Doing anything “interruptive” marks you as a mediocre, clueless hack in this scheme. Forget direct mail and forget cold calling.
Ah, clueless kids!
Google’s Interruption
Back to reality. There is a fundamental contradiction in the SEO world that we have heard little about. Check this out.
Google Adwords Mailed Advertisement.
This is a mailing from Google that is intended to cause businesses not using Adwords yet to jump in. It offers up to $150 in Adwords credits – for trying Adwords with a new account.
FULL TILT. RED ALERT.
Google just interrupted me!
Google Not Eating Its Own Dogfood
The term “eat your own dog food” originated with programmers at Microsoft in the previous decade.
The phrase indicates that a programmer for an organization such as Microsoft which creates tools for programmers is willing to use the same internal tools to produce their own software.
If the Microsoft programmer used Microsoft Visual Studio and disregards, for instance, the open source Eclipse IDE, he is metaphorically eating his own dog food.
In this instance, Google has figured out that they can’t reach uncommitted internet marketers using their own system. Their dog food has lost its flavor? Whatever.
Bow wow.
The Takeaway from This…
Google knows something you don’t. Which they’re not about to tell you:
SEO and Adwords and content are not the bee’s knees when you need introductions and leads.
Marketing is all about reaching out and making contact and engaging.
Write a letter. Pick up the phone. Get off the internet, for cryin’ out loud.
You’ll still need guys like me – content producers – even if you choose to interrupt your prospects. All businesses above the level of the proverbial hot dog cart need content. (Arguably, even food trucks use social media and content to engage their real life customers whom they reached in bricks and mortar-land.)
But content may not be the most effective way to reach those who aren’t yet customers.