Many times I talk with companies that have marketing programs designed to please the owner or the person(s) in charge of the marketing. This is easily seen when yo
u look at a company’s marketing profile like their website, social media presence and other aspects of their marketing strategy. When you see a weak social media presence that’s a certain indication that the person that drives the corporate marketing train is personally not active in social media and therefore has little or no faith in the concept. The same is seen within the effectiveness of their website and not just the level of attractiveness it projects. Bad websites many times reflects the marketing priority of the owner. It’s also even more prevalent in areas of content marketing, such as blogging.
This problem starts with the tunnel vision approach to marketing that drives many “marketers” to do only what motivates them to purchase goods and services. It’s also driven by thinking that simply buying an ad in a publication or electronic media is an effective replacement for taking the time to write a constructive post on social media or blog outlets since they don’t like writing or creating blog or post content ideas. In short, throwing some money at an ineffective traditional ad is far more convenient than creating and managing a digital marketing program that requires consistent input and attention on someone’s part. I’ll compare it to the car dealer that stocks and sells only the cars that he likes to drive, never mind the thoughts or desires of his customers. It’s tunnel vision created by the inability to move out of the comfort zone. The marine marketer’s ability can be one of the biggest factors in gaining a competitive edge. Thinking like your customer is actually easy, but you have to stop being fixated on your opinions and start to become aware of your customer and prospective customer’s thoughts and what drives those thoughts. This includes communicating with them the way that best suits them. Today, the quickest way to a buyers pocket is through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, email inbox, blog list by way their lap top, smart phone, desktop.
Think like a customer and get a customer…. only think like you and you’ll be the only one you sell to. Thinking like your prospect…… the new competitive edge.
