Attention Marketers: You’re not special
April 3rd, 2007
Seriously.
You’re not. And neither am I.
You know, the more I think about the boneheads that are desperately trying to buck the notion of word of mouth marketing – especially engaging in a meaningful dialogue with their client’s customers – the more I think it’s because of one thing: their egos.
But the time has come to realize that we’re not special. Geno just came back from South Africa and said that Rich at Missing Link planted a seed in his head. I’m paraphrasing here, but it went along the lines of, “I’m not special. And you’re not special. ‘Creative’ people need to realize that I could open this window and throw a rock out of it and hit someone who’s ‘special.’”
You know who is special? Your fans. Your loyal advocates. Your voluntary evangelists. That’s why they should be treated like rock stars. Sure, you might have to swallow your pride and admit it when they come up with an idea that you could’ve never, ever thought of. But rest in the fact that you’re leading the charge to engage, listen and even act on those conversations.
We as creative thinkers are naturally egotistical. Some to the point that we want to make people puke because we are so full of ourselves and our “ideas” (present writer included). But one of the major shifts that has to happen for this whole social community thing to work is the killing of those egos. We’re not special. We’re not in control.
But we’re still intimately involved.
Other posts by Spike.
Rich...! says:
Hey Spike,
Well put bro. The fans angle is rad and somnething I hadn’t explored enough. If you’re interested, my “you’re special” bit came from a post I wrote over at UXmag.
Respect…!
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:07 pmJoe O'Keefe says:
In marketing as in anything it is about discipline. If you have that discipline to stay focused and DON’T let your ego get in the way, then you are special. Or at least you are in position to do some special things with your brand for your customers. I freely admit that the best ideas for programs I have created to improve the customer experience come from the customers. I can be an idiot and choose to ignore them because of any myriad of reasons.
Listening to clients’ needs and then acting on them by creating strategies to improve the arc of their experience is like adding oxygen to the lungs. We may not think about breathing but I do not need much convincing whether or not it is good for life expectancy. Living is special. As is the case with WOM, some don’t get it.
April 4th, 2007 at 3:01 amNancy @Deliver magazine says:
If marketers respect the fact that their customers are special and treat them accordingly, they may just create some special marketing which would in turn lead customers to believe that the product was special and lead back to the same old belief that we, as marketers are special.
A vicious circle, isn’t it? But well worth the risk if we wind up producing customer worthy marketing, no?
April 4th, 2007 at 9:03 amSpike says:
GREAT comment, Nancy. A vicious cycle, indeed. Maybe we need a 12-step program for marketing egos?
April 4th, 2007 at 9:27 amSpike says:
Rich - thanks for the comment and the link. The way Geno speaks of you and your crew, I hope our paths cross someday soon.
April 4th, 2007 at 9:27 amLink round-up (4/11/07) « The Field of Action says:
[...] Attention Marketers: You’re not special “You know who is special? Your fans. Your loyal advocates. Your voluntary evangelists. That’s why they should be treated like rock stars. Sure, you might have to swallow your pride and admit it when they come up with an idea that you could’ve never, ever thought of. But rest in the fact that you’re leading the charge to engage, listen and even act on those conversations.” [...]
April 11th, 2007 at 4:41 pmDon says:
Love it! What a great way to remind ourselves to focus on our clients and their customers. Remove the ego and we see ourselves as part of a whole. What makes us special is our function for others, not the _who_ we are.
October 5th, 2007 at 10:41 am