Yeah, I know, it’s not much of a revelation. However, I feel it’s important to state why search engines (let’s just say Google) and social media have changed the way marketing works.

Google’s search algorithm likes fresh content, at least that’s what I’ve heard. Fresh content for most mundane topical websites isn’t hard to produce. On the other hand, most businesses don’t feel their products and services are so mundane. In fact, marketing is about highlighting the uniqueness of the business’s offering to the consumer. Even if you’re selling an everyday household product you feel you’re providing something special to the marketplace. Unique content that is regularly published meets both Google’s demand and a business’s need to look different from competitors.

Second, it seems like every business wants to have a Facebook page or push out tweets. It seems logical, especially if that’s where your customers congregate. The challenge is not letting your consumers see a dead page. There is nothing, speaking personally and from experience, than a social media account that is unused. It basically says, “look at us NOT being social.” My good friend Brian always said that a business shouldn’t use a social media platform if their not a social company.

We all understand the meaning behind the saying content is king. And because of the immediacy of the Internet, regularly published content is critical. Thus, marketing is different.

Think of the Four P’s of marketing: 1) product, 2) placement, 3) promotion, and 4) price. Now consider creating content. Can you outsource your current content needs to just any writer? Typically, no.

You see, in the past before Google, you could just hire an ad agency to buy you marketing spots in any media outlet. Sure, you needed to create content but the process was drawn-out and tedious. Today a business needs to publish a detailed technical blog about tomorrow’s product and respond to yesterday’s Facebook post. The speed and regularity in which writing and editing takes place requires someone that knows what they’re talking about.

Translated for my accounting mind: why spend the money to outsource something that only an expert must do all the time?

So the world of marketing has changed. Instead of each marketing firm being a one-stop shop for their clients, the new marketing firm must realize that much of the work, due to basic cost accounting principles, will in the long-run be done in house. This transition happened for the accounting industry too with the advent of accounting software. Bookkeeping can be done in-house whereas tax preparation is outsourced.