For businesses, churches, and most organizations, the challenge of finding target market people to share your message has always been challenging. In 2009, it’s a problem compounded by the fact that even when you find them, figuring out how to break through the clutter and the noise seems insurmountable. Between websites, blogs, texts, emails, FaceBook, Twitter, radio, TV, and over 200 other social media platforms, organizations are crying out for help…”Where do we even start?”
The good news is, your target audience is crying for help too! They’re not over-communicated, they’re over-messaged, over-noised, over-interrupted, and over-loaded.
Let me help you by comforting you with a premise that won’t steer you wrong, if your organization embraces it, and sticks to it as a foundational measuring stick for “should we buy that ad” or “should we jump on that social media tool.” In fact, it’s comforting to know that this premise has remained constant for about 2000 years, despite shifts in consumer spending, technology, and other 21st century changes. Here it is:
At their core, consumers are people. People want authentic relationships, and they want to connect, and they want to be led (not pushed, not coerced, not managed) towards a vision and a decision that makes their life better. I’ve taught this premise at workshops, as a definition of marketing you won’t find in textbooks at college, but that is reality:
Marketing = building an authentic relationship, connecting with people, and leading them to a decision. Whether it’s a relationship with God, wearing Nike’s, donating to the Red Cross, or watching Barney, the formula doesn’t change…”How can we build an authentic relationship with them, help them feel connected to me, and lead them to a decision and a vision for something better than their current circumstances and surroundings?”
Sounds too simple to be true, I know. It’s so easy to grasp, but so tempting to stray away from.
@chels I know what you mean, its hard to find good help these days. People now days just don’t have the work ethic they used to have. I mean consider whoever wrote this post, they must have been working hard to write that good and it took a good bit of their time I am sure. I work with people who couldn’t write like this if they tried, and getting them to try is hard enough as it is.
Can you message me with any pointers on how you made this blog site look like this, I’d be thankful.
@Markus I get your drift on where you were going there. I often think of my past and use it as a means to analyze where I am and where I want to get to. Where I struggel is balancing it all out. How do you guys balance things out?