Are you writing enough? Are you finishing the project quick enough? Are you running at a sustainable rate to see growth but not burn out?
Shit doesn’t go according to your plan, do you have a friend to call? You’re trying to DIY a repair on your house, do you know someone who can help?
Do you know how to get out of the rut you’re in? Are you thinking outside the box enough?
In all of these scenarios, it sure does help to have someone to text, call or simply talk to. Which begs the real question: are you regularly connecting with new people?
The big breweries of 10 years ago never imagined that they’d be putting as much fruit puree in their beers as they are now.
Scientists of yester never imagined that they’d discover a fifth tasting receptor on our tongue.
The publishers of old never imagined that they’d be competing against anyone with an internet connection.
Alas. The challenge isn’t to think of the unimaginable and act on it, per say, but merely be open to inching your way toward it.
Creating something unimaginable is done with the power of six words…
“How can we make this better?”
Notice that it’s not how can we make something different. Different is easy enough to do, but the sad part is that different doesn’t always stick. Better, on the other hand, better always lasts… that is… until better arrives again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
Until we look back and realize we’ve done something we never imagined we’d do all that time ago.
It’s quite rare that we get a true “more is merrier” situation.
Normally you read about “better” being better and “more” having a point that there’s a diminishing return.
Alas, the sneaky strategy here is that more better is what makes a brand win. Here’s a quick example:
You can use communicative tactics to impress your target with the value they will get out of your offering. It’s a positive tactic; one of reinforcement and escalation of status.
You can also use communicative tactics that scare your target with what they lose if they pass on your offering. It’s a negative reinforcement; one of scarcity and pre-experienced regret.
There’s one kind of marketer that picks one tactic over the other. Then there’s one marketer that decides to implement both because she knows her strategy is to treat different people differently.
We could probably think of myriad ways to connect with our audience. Rather than all the back and forth of internally (and with no shortness of bias) trying to prioritize them, we’re better off launching more tactics and testing them–aligned on the strategy of treating different people differently, of course.
It’s an entirely different marketing strategy when you go from “what should we say” to “who longs to hear this?”
Stay Positive & As Always, It Starts With Listening
There’s the content that reaches the top of Google and gets to the person who typed in the exact question you’re answering. They clicked to your content but told no one.
There’s the content that reaches a few people and wows them–not with a breaking news piece, but the exact opposite. They clicked to your content and sent it to a friend that shares their appreciation for the topic.
Too often marketers try to blend the two content types for a piece of super content. How do you infuse SEO into a story? How do you create an emotional connection in less than 250 characters?
While it might get achieved and work for some (to me it’s sort of like winning a scratch ticket, it happens, but it’s rare you ever win BIG), it’s a far smarter strategy to treat different people differently.
Rather than see how much you can blend in one content piece, get another blender and make something specifically for them.
Stay Positive & Maybe Grab A Few Blenders While You’re At It
