All too often, we feel like we should be talking to the millions of users, fans, or readers that we’ll have once we put together an amazing marketing campaign. We launch using time-tested strategies and then wait. And wait. And wait.
When our product isn’t a hit, we want to point fingers at product developers, customers who didn’t get it, or being on the wrong side of a bell curve.
But the biggest problem was that we were trying to talk to a million people before we had the undivided attention of one. We forgot to build an audience of one.
The Personal Touch
Marketing is tricky. Your message needs to be read by millions, yet it should feel as though it was written personally with each individual in mind.
This type of marketing takes a lot more time. It’s why companies hire full-time community managers to carry out ongoing conversations with a handful of people over weeks, months, or years. Slow marketing is about building super fans who are in a better position to convert those on the fence.
I see many people making noise, but very few rising above it.
Marketing should invite me to fall in love with your product. It should be a dance that charms me into trying things out. And then, of course, the product should be designed in a way that makes it impossible not to love.
Love With a Call to Action
Love really is the greatest form of marketing. But love with a call to action. The hippies have been saying it for years.
How are you making people fall in love with your product one person at a time?
Some action items worth implementing:
Make marketing more personal. Focus on meeting one or two people each day that you can have a meaningful conversation with and really get them to see your vision.
Energize your message. There’s an energetic level of marketing that very few are fully exploring. Put more time and attention on each marketing piece as a way to energetically charge them, so they find the right person who can carry the message much further than you could alone.
Create a community map. This is so important, but very often we get busy running a business or creating content and forget that encouraging others who are working on similar projects is the best way to create mutually beneficial scenarios. Map those writing or producing something similar to you, and then encourage them on a regular basis.
Focus on one ideal reader. Reality is really all about our ability to focus. This becomes even more important when we’re trying to gain another person’s focus. Write each post and marketing piece for your one ideal reader. And expect that this will bring you many more ideal readers than trying to cater to everyone at once.
The Snowball
How often do we fall into the trap of trying to force momentum, instead of slowly growing the snowball by rolling it up the mountain, then watching it take on a life of its own as it rolls down the other side?
Is your marketing a dance that charms, or a quick transaction that lacks any sense of loyalty?
It’s more valuable to have one person who loves your product than a thousand who are just there for the free drinks.
Start with your audience of one. The millions will follow.
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