Some minor issues

Question 7 in the new marketing faq: “Does the long tail change anything to the way I should communicate with my target group?”

The obvious answer would be yes. Isn’t the long tail changing everything?
Indeed the long tail can change the way you do business.

But should it really change the way you communicate?
In my mind, the most important thing is the communication itself. If you don’t communicate with your consumers yet, this question isn’t relevant, and you should start doing so in the first place.

If your communication strategy is enrolled, you can finetune it with the long tail in mind. Based on the long tail, you can assume an online message (to narrow it down) keeps living after initiation. You’ll pass the momentum and enter the continuum.

If I look at this blog I see a certain percentage of visitors reading posts I wrote a long time ago. They’ll keep finding it by Google, so this content is relevant for them. Indeed the basic challenge is to keep your content relevant in the long run. In the social web the connectivity becomes a very important factor. Not only in interaction (between social people), but also in content. Content gets tagged, flagged and reused. So in your communication, over time, you’re building credit. Again, to make this work in the long run (long tail) try to follow your basic communication sense. More about that in Question 1.

I think for example, sometimes you have to look back. Reread the things you published before. Are they still relevant? If they aren’t, you don’t have to alter the text, but you might want to link to an update. You can also set the scope. If your readers know in what context (zeitgeist) a certain article/post/text is written, they can understand it more correct. Basic thing: ALWAYS date your content.

Read Philippe’s answer. He points out the conversation is going global, so you have to be remeber humor (for example) is context/country sensitive. What we consider as a good laugh might offend other people.

(BTW: speaking of Q7. I’m an absolute Audi fan. I drive an A3 sportback myself. The Audi Q7 is in my mind the most attractive SUV around! So marketeers at Audi: don’t miss your opportunity to start and maintain the relationship with this brand advocate )