Spinal Tap Marketing Contradictions

Do you want to reach people? Are you interested in improving your marketing communications and PR endeavors? Do you have your own brand ambassadors? Do you need the latter? Read on to find the answers to these questions!

Hello nice people! I hope you have been working hard and you are on the freight train to success. You you still have not boarded that train or you’ve just got your ticket to ride, then follow the rock steady trail of marketing communications digital crumbs that I have been leaving for quite some time! They might help you find the way to great business opportunities. In that context, I hope my piece on real time victory for real-time champions resonated with you! If you have not read it, correct your mistake instantly! You might find it useful in view of the swift dynamics operating at full throttle across the fields of opportunities. Yet, I will leave the notions of speed and agility in business behind for the moment and focus on yet another marketing aspect that could drive your commercial ships to new lands. Indeed, as I promised you some time ago, today’s topic would discuss the importance of humanizing your business and it would provide you with some tips on how to improve your customer service, engage people, and become genuine brand ambassadors.

Welcome to the century of machines! An age where everything is automated, scripted, molded, and pre-made. Indeed, these are the times when companies would invest a significant amount of money in conducting expensive marketing campaigns or designing fancy free mobile applications in order to reach people. Yup, being social is the way to go. Yet, the very same companies, which are willing to part with a juicy piece of their budget to carry out their creative or not so original marketing activities, are surprisingly unwilling to humanize their business, lift the corporate curtain, and simply engage their target audience. What is even worse, whenever businesses do try to communicate with people, interactions often turn into one-sided orations, devoid of sensitivity and empathy for the end users. Indeed, there are so many loose communication ends that eventually, the conduct of businesses could be perceived as distant and artificial. Consequently, they have a very hard time adding the luster of credibility on top of their corporate facade. The same rule can apply for some ambitious, hip startups. Sometimes, their arrogance or their over-cheerfulness send alarming signals. Yes, we are all wannabe rock stars but do we have what it takes to come out and play when the push comes to shove? Well, not all the time. Sometimes, it is just more glitz and attitude than real substance. Or kids that believe they are too cool for school.

Now that I have more or less defined the broad parameters of this pervasive marketing communications problem, I will focus on delivering a possible solution that can help you avoid communication breakdowns and it would allow you to interact with your crowd, capture people’s imagination, impress them with your efficiency, and eventually, rally their support.

In a nutshell, marketing activities always boil down to interacting with people. Indeed, marketers do not talk to APIs, machines, or abstract entities. Instead, they reach out to people in an attempt to make an announcement, promote a brand, convey a message, encourage participation, call to action, or generate some sells. Thus, they have to interact with people on a basic peer-to-peer level. This complex, yet extremely simple communications model entails dropping the corporate or hipster trappings or rhetorics and establishing a real dialogue with others! In fact, it might not come to you as a surprise, but people want to talk to real people, not to waste time and struggle with telephone operators, listen to pre-recorded messages, receive the same template answer to their specific e-mail enquiries, or keep waiting to receive a response to a tweet or a Facebook comment they have ventured to share. Indeed, the spinal tap marketing moment that keeps re-occurring could be best described as the inability of businesses to communicate with people on a human level. In truth, companies or startups often fail to show the level of transparency and openness that people would like to see. Moreover, they often forget to appoint their own brand ambassadors that embody the values and the spirit of the business they represent. Those brand envoys are the land and digital troops that should conduct social media affairs, respond to people’s questions and concerns, be amicable and open to interaction, engage the target audience, and most importantly, put a human face on the company they work for. Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple is one of the most brilliant brand ambassadors ever. Indeed, when people think of Apple, the face of Steve Jobs delivering a presentation instantly pops up in their heads. The same could be claimed about Bill Gates or Michael Dell. Yet, each and every CEO needs his troops to fortify and protect his or her business empire. This is where brand ambassadors come into place and attempt to humanize their companies. As a matter of fact, their down-to-earth modus operandi often resonates with people and it appeals to them because they feel they are on a par with the company itself. Moreover, they no longer perceive businesses as abstract entities but they tend to think of them as living, breathing organisms composed of real people, who can empathize with them and respond to their concerns or address their problems efficiently.

The moral of this consumer psychology-oriented article is that humanizing your business by interacting on a down-to-earth level with people can really make a difference. But hey, give it a try yourselves and tell me if it works for you! You might be amazed by the results! After all, you have nothing to lose by attempting to be more understanding and a tad less conceited! Whereas my tips sound quite easy to implement, beware! Nothing is as simple as it looks! Just keep doing what you do best and avoid falling into the trap of your own (imaginary) greatness! Everything else will come into place!

So, this was it! Thanks a lot for taking the time to read my ramblings and tell me what you think about them in the comment section below or just send a tweet or a Facebook comment! I will be happy to read them! In the mean time, subscribe to the feed that rocks, check out the Stuff We Say, follow us on Twitter or join us on Facebook! You will not regret it! Indeed, I am going to give you a reason why you should stick around! Due to popular demand and my own oblivion, I will re-open the chapter on mobile apps marketing to tell you something more about marketing mobile games on both the App Store and the Android Market! Although gaming is not my cup of tea, I have some valuable insights I would like to share with you! Hopefully, I can live up to your expectations!