We all get in a rut. It is easy to stay in your comfort zone. When you find a formula that works for you, why change?
Hear the Brain Vibe chant:
Change is good
Change is good
Change is good
I remember hearing for the first time that social media was the wave of the future for marketers. Sites like Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn got you close to the customer. As a B2B marketer I was horrified. Weren’t these sites where the kids hung out and posted party pictures? Why would I want to leverage my professional network for advertising my company? I want people gathering at my company’s website to discuss and educate themselves. I have to be IN CONTROL!
My how times have changed. You are not, and cannot fully control your message. But, you can leverage this fluid nature of your space.
There are too many outlets, too much noise, and the market has the ability to tell your story for you, for good and for bad. The reality today is that the email as a delivery mechanism, traditional outlets, and high cost events don’t cut it on their own. We lack a glue. We lack a strategy around what marketing is, how it is valuable, and how it goes beyond agency and direct marketing tactics.
Forget what you learned in your marketing classes and MBA programs. You learned a process, terms, and tools. What you didn’t learn is what makes your customer tick. Today’s decision makers are smart and savvy. They value their time and don’t want you to waste it. We’ve listened to the drumbeat of creating a customer experience and the customer comes first, but we still think about our product first in our communications. Our narcissism holds us back.
If you have a story of how you innovated marketing, share it. If you have a question on how to push beyond, submit it. I’ll be on the lookout for ideas and stories to get your Brain Vibe-d.
So keep checking in.
Filed under: b2b, brainstorm, social media, b2b, brand, change, customer experience, marketing, social media
