Can a company survive today without engaging in social media, without posting, tweeting, and otherwise dipping into the live media stream? Apparently, yes! In a recent blog, Jonathan Weber* noted that despite Apple’s “old school” approach to marketing (Apple spends on slick magazine ads and TV and they don’t blog, tweet, or do much with Facebook) they have had a major impact and smashing success in the computer, mobile phone, and music industries. Why?

Effectively market your products or services no matter what marketing avenue you may choose. Build products and provide services that customers seek. Be aware of how you can meet customer needs, and tell potential customers how you can meet their needs. When selling your services or products, remember that you are selling feelings, emotions, and desires.

Weber points to one of the first lessons of business that companies often forget – “It’s the product, stupid.” Apple has done a great job of anticipating what their customers want and, in general, delivering quality products that are well-built, well-designed, and offer customers a great user experience that makes those products seem indispensable.

It is important to use emerging technologies to engage customers and to gain a sense of trends. It is essential to market products and services effectively within your chosen marketing avenues and budget. However, it is also crucial that product and service quality not be forgotten and lost along the way. Build a product or provide a service based on your customers’ needs and desires (current and anticipated), deliver consistently on that, and your customers will be satisfied and come back for more. Provide your customers with good quality and they will tweet, post, and text their friends along the way, bringing you more business. Provide a bad product or experience, and they are even more likely to tweet, post, and text their friends, shrinking your market.