"Take the time to research your target audience, learn what keeps them up at night, and how you can help them. It's the best way to communicate a message to them. Using strategy and tactics that worked in the past may net a big fat zero." Sarita Harris is the Director of Marketing at the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB)
At a time when we are instructed to social distance ourselves, we can't help but ponder the vitality of relationships. The reason this directive has been so difficult for some is that we were all made for human connectivity. Some view life as not worth living without social engagement. Though we see the critical need for complying, our hearts and spirits can't help but feel agony over the separation.
Bonds are who we are. Webster dictionary defines it as "something that binds or restrains," or "a thing used to fasten or tie something together." In other words, bonds aren't meant to be broken. The very idea is to create a lasting togetherness.
We build our lives on forming relationships that bind. Parent and child. Husband and wife. Employee and boss. You get the picture. Our energy and time are intensely poured into going beyond the familiar with individuals that benefit our worlds.
Sarita Harris, Director of Marketing at AGB, lays this out for us in her eloquent quote. For every business, big and small, for-profit or not, there should be one relationship that takes precedence over them all. That is the relationship you foster with your target audience. Your business priority list must place them in the #1 slot!
Listen, without your audience; there is no business. Musical artists and actors seem to understand this best. It's a rare occasion that when recognized, they don't ensure every acceptance speech is drizzled with, "I would like to thank my fans." When's the last time you thanked your's?
If you take the time out to heed Miss Harris' advice to study, spend time with, and truly engage your audience, your "thank you" will show up in all that you do. This concept is particularly true for your marketing. Your campaigns will speak directly to them, your messages will be just what they have been waiting to hear, and your offerings will make them wonder if you have been reading their minds.
This is what relationships are made of and what they look like!
It's our philosophy at THuS Marketing, and it's what our "THuS" stands for - The Human Side of Marketing. We ask every client to discover the heart of marketing when they partner with us. To do so, they must join THuS in recognizing that the audience is at the heart of it all. They are the heart. Make them your focus, and your fail rate has to come down. Build that everlasting relationship with them, so they become fastened to your brand.
You know that feeling distancing from your loved ones brings? Well, make your audience feel it too. Make them miss you when they receive an ask to separate!
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