I attended the Art of Marketing Conference here in Chicago yesterday. The lineup was impressive, including Seth Godin, Randi Zuckerburg and Gary Vanyerchuk. Each of them had their own messages, but there were a few that kept being repeated, albeit in slightly different ways.
1. Marketers have to stop pushing. It’s a conversation now. Pushing tv ads that never get views thanks to DVR’s and newspaper ads that never get delivered won’t work.
2. You have to care. Setting up a Facebook brand page with no interaction, just push messages, is stupid. It basically shows your customers you don’t care, not even a little.
3. It’s going to be more work. The days of thinking “I’m done” after publishing an ad, white paper or even web site are over. You are just beginning. Stay involved.
4. Measurement is great, but only if you use it for good and not evil. Measuring hits on your web site isn’t worth anything. In fact, Avinash Kaushik calls them “How Idiots Track Success.” Love that!
5. You are not caring enough if you are just pushing your product and don’t get to know your customers. Your customers don’t want to answer questions about your logo. They want to answer questions about themselves.
Bottom line – marketers need to start caring about EXPERIENCE. This is not news or new, but it does seem to be a wake up call. So many brands push and push and push some more, never considering what value they are adding.
It was refreshing to hear this, and I hope marketers start paying attention.
By the way – this week, I’m hosting the first-ever Customer Experience Professionals Association Chicagoland meetup. It’s a happy hour to get to know others who care about experience and want to hear great speakers, pool resources, and understand what’s next in this space. All are welcome for this first gathering in downtown Chicago. Please join us! http://cxpa_chicago.eventbrite.com/ You must RSVP to be on the list!
If you’d like more detail about the speakers and their messages from yesterday, please check out my friend Barbara Rozgonyi‘s great post on it here.
