Today while I was out shopping with my girls, I ran into a long-time friend (we’ll call him “Steve”) and met his lovely wife and three beautiful young daughters. Steve and I attended middle school and high school together before his family moved away.
Steve was always very creative, easygoing and ambitious so I’m not surprised he landed in marketing. We spent most of our time talking about mutual friends, our kids, how we actually liked being more “mature” parents, and the last reunion we attended.
We’re also Facebook friends and connected on LinkedIn, so we’ve kept track of each others personal and professional moves. As we were about to part ways, Steve asked how my move into full-time consulting was going and what specifically I was doing. I told him about my recent workshop in North Carolina, my branding/marketing project for a local non-profit, my marketing articles for TED Magazine, and a piece I was writing about transportation legislation.
Then, almost as an afterthought, I shared that my first love was writing. Steve knew I had owned an agency and consulted, but he wasn’t aware of my passion for writing, although he had seen these articles on LinkedIn.
Steve mentioned that he occasionally needed a writer in his position as marketing director for the business college at a university. I gave him my card and we promised to keep in touch.
Why am I telling you this story? And why is their no “s” at the end of “connection” in this article’s headline?
Because this isn’t a lesson networking.
Steve and I were both just shopping with our families on a single-digit winter afternoon. And because I felt comfortable with him, I mentioned how much I love to write, and I write something almost daily.
This is about actually connecting with people.
When I owned my agency, I took on (almost) any client and (almost) any project. But I’m older, wiser, more financially secure…and a little more selfish with my time, emotion and energy. I want to truly “connect” with my clients. I want to work with people whose company I enjoy, who I respect, and who are good at what they do. I want to work with people who are kind, fair, enthusiastic, and have a good sense of humor.
How does this apply to your marketing?
When you’re marketing your business, who are you targeting? Can you truly relate to and connect with your potential clients or customers? Can you picture them in your head? Do you know what they do for fun, where they like to go, and what they’re interested in? Or do you think of them simply as numbers that impact your bottom line?
This is especially important when choosing with marketing strategies and tactics, designing promotions, and even when writing content. Any time you’re communicating with your audience—whether it’s web content, newsletter articles, blogs, LinkedIn or Facebook posts, ads, catalog copy—find ways to connect, person to person. Sure, it won’t be on a truly personal level, but look for what you know will help them do their jobs better, save them time or money, make them feel good, or just laugh. That’s how we truly connect with people.
In fact, I think “people” should be the fourth “P” in the textbook definition of marketing: product, price, place, promotion…people. I’ll have to suggest that Steve share with his friends in the business college.
Oh, and maybe I’ll work with Steve in the future, maybe I won’t. But either way, I’m glad we connected today!
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Katrina Olson is an award-winning marketing and public relations consultant, marketing coach/trainer, writer, and principal of Katrina Olson Strategic Communications. She has been writing professionally for 25+ years for national, regional and local clients. She can be reached at katrina@katrinaolson.com or via her website at katrinaolson.com.