Do you remember the world pre-internet? Remember how we used to do business? At the Inc. 500 | 500 Conference last year, Gary Vaynerchuk made a bold statement that really caught my attention when I watched a clip from his speach: Our grandparents are more prepared to be successful in the next decade than we are, because business was built in the old days was built on "small town rules" and the internet is taking us back to those rules. It's about building relationships and personalizing each experience. It's not about going out in mass anymore. The future is all about one-on-one marketing. The stakes are high.
Gary goes on to talk about how most companies are treating the internet (and social media) like a one night stand. We're all acting like 19 year old dudes. Trying to close the deal on the first transaction. Ask yourself, are you going to buy something because someone walks up to you in a cocktail party and starts pitching you? Probably not, yet it's what so many people are doing on social media. We need to personalize our approach, build relationships—one interaction at a time!
But don't think this just applies to social media. It doesn't. It applies to everything, including your emails and surveys. You need to build on existing customer relationships and individualize the (survey) experience. Whenever you write an email or create a survey, keep in mind what you already know about the respondent. Include information to trigger that additional level of trust, use the information in analysis to gain deeper customer insights. Of course we're going Jetsons, but with the help of Big Data, we can still be very Flintstone link in our interactions with customers and prospects. I believe, like Gary, the organizations that can do that most effectively throughout all of their markeitng (not just social) are going to be the ones poised for success.
I invite you to listen to this short clip from Gary's speech, and then as you head off into the age of the Jetsons, don't forget about the Fred and Wilma Flintstones!
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