I love this quote from Jay Baer:
Activate your fans, don't just collect them like baseball cards.
Says it all really. We live in an advertising-saturated environment in which far too many brands insist on pushing out their message into the marketplace.
Okay, that's fine - and advertising has its place in the marketing mix. But do it too often, as many lazy brands do, and you run the risk of driving potential customers away, or worse, they could be dissing your brand to hundreds (thousands?) of their 'closest' friends should you succeed in annoying them sufficiently!
The key, of course, is to pull people towards your brand by being interesting, relevant, personal and humble.
Once you've respectfully earned people's attention, the challenge then is to engage them over longer periods of time. Obviously this is not something a quick-hit promotional stunt or whizz-bang marketing campaign can achieve.
If you manage to engage your customers and begin to grow your community of fans, that's fantastic. But then what?
Is your brand merely 'collecting' fans, as Jay says in the above quote, or are you actively trying to deepen the intensity of connection with them?
Best-selling author Seth Godin says organizations grow when they persuade a tiny cadre to be passionate, not when they touch millions with a mediocre message.
I like that. The focus is on a smaller number of highly active fans and advocates of your brand. Give them the tools and stories and conversation-starters then get out of the way and let them spread the love for you!
Food for thought!
(See more Jay Baer quotes here).
*** THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON MY SWEAT EQUITY BLOG ***
Recent Comments