Beyond Personalized Communications
So a recent article by Bob Lieber of Original Thought LLC, a marketing strategy and services firm, caught my eye.
The cost and time to send emails, text messages, tweets, instant messages, photos, computer calls and Facebook comments is incredibly low. But the result is that we seem to spend more time deleting and avoiding, than consuming communications. So what does this mean for those of you involved with commercial communications?
Certainly, print and marketing services providers feel the need to keep up with current technologies. Yet, I would ask this: Does having a high end, gourmet kitchen, make you a great chef? Does having a toolbox filled with brand new tools make you a carpenter?
So how does one reframe this personalization capability to create a competitive advantage? My humble suggestion is that we can all become better at crafting communications that better connect with the way people live today. What I'm talking about is putting an emphasis on creating "value-filled communications" that people will choose to consume.
My hope is to help you start thinking in a more disciplined way…in a more creative way…about the value of the commercial messages you create, produce, and distribute on behalf of clients.
- Relevancy: Is this communication really relevant to every person who will receive it? Or, am I just hoping a few people will find it was written for them?
- Significance: Is there really enough value – to the recipient – to warrant this message? Would I take advantage of this offer or information, as a consumer?
- Honesty: Is this an attempt to do something that isn't really in the best interest of the recipient (is the real motive truthful or simply about salesmanship)?
- Helpfulness: Will this communication be viewed more as a nuisance or is it truly trying to help someone achieve something positive?
- Simplicity: How hard have we made it to understand what's being offered…and what we want people to do? Are there terms and conditions where we've buried some "gotchas" that people have to hunt for and find?
There's a lot more from Bob, so check it out.