You’ve probably heard the saying that history is written by the winners. The idea is that when it comes to wars and battles, the narrative is generally dictated by the side that won. If the Axis had won the Second World War, the way that the 20th century is perceived would be very different.

But with marketing, it’s a different story altogether. Thanks to the internet and social networking, content creation and dissemination has been democratised. In fact, it’s also changed the way that we look at history. When it comes to global politics in the 21st century, much of it is written by the general public on their social networking sites. Remember that guy who accidentally live tweeted the raid on Osama Bin Laden?

Historically, much of what we understood about brands came from what they told us themselves. It was possible for brands to write their own winning histories, and we as consumers had to believe them. It became a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you threw enough money at marketing and telling your brand’s story, people would come and do business with you. But times are changing.

Marketing history is written by consumers

Nowadays, as we all know, the consumer has the power. This holds true for both B2B and B2C companies, and we’ve all heard stories of brands being brought low because someone called them out on a faux pas or a negative customer service experience. Instead of brands telling their own stories, consumers are telling brands’ stories for them – and they’re not always casting them in a positive light.

The good news is that you can stay on top of this trend by focusing on two key things. The first is delivering a top-quality customer experience, whether we’re talking about the user experience of a website or whether we’re talking about exceeding their expectations and solving customer service issues. And the second is trying to amplify customer voices, whether that’s by encouraging the creation of user-generated content or whether it’s by setting up referral programmes.

This marks a fundamental shift in the way that we do business, and it’s the most successful companies who are the ones who are tapping into it. Many are even starting to integrate consumer requests and feedback into their research and development process. And it makes sense. It helps them to tap into a pre-existing market by simply rising to meet an existing demand.

Conclusion

History has been written by the winners until now, but we’re living through a pivotal point in which the power is shifting. You just have to look at the role that social networking played in key world events like the Arab Spring. But this trend is holding true across all walks of life, and marketers need to remember that. Otherwise, they’ll risk becoming irrelevant.

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