Think of Marketing as Audience Development

What is Marketing today? Marketing used to be a company getting on a loudspeaker and booming out messages to everyone, hoping someone will hear and respond. That model for promotion is so over.

Walk in your audience’s shoes

Marketing is now all about Audience Development. You’re cultivating two-way relationships with your customers and potential customers. Start by really thinking about the product or service you offer. Then immediately think about it from your audience’s perspective. Walk in their shoes. Feel their feelings. What do your products and services mean to them, really? What are the underlying emotions that your product or service sustains?

Get to know your audience, how they communicate, what they like, what they’re afraid of. Then talk to them about these things and how your product or service fits in to their frame of mind.

Be part of your audience’s community

What kind of community is your product or service part of? If you’re a storefront on the main street of a town, your community shows up in person. If you’re a consultant with an e-mail newsletter, your community is a loose-knit electronic community. Know your community and reach them where they are.

Put feedback loops everywhere

Relationships are about give and take, listen and talk. All of your communications should be two-way communications. You can talk to your audience via YouTube, FaceBook, Twitter, Hulu, or your own web site. Those vehicles all allow for two-way communications.  But other, non-electronic communications can be two-way, too. You can put a bulletin board in your lobby or shop. Put postage-paid feedback cards in your packaging. Create feedback loops wherever you can.  Then listen, read, and think about what your audience is saying. Your audience will tell you how to grow.