Successful marketing is all about people.
It’s not about; brands, venues, websites, companies or social media tools – Marketing is all about people. You see, without people, none of those things matter.
I met with a friend of mine this morning, who owns a large and very successful nightclub. We had our meeting this time, in the nightclub itself, rather than his office, and the sensation was amazing. I have only previously been there, when it’s been packed with hundreds of people, having a great time and enjoying the music. This morning, you could have heard a pin drop, as we sat, drinking coffee and talking about his marketing.
You see, it’s not the building, fixtures or fittings that makes his nightclub a success; it’s the people who work there and party there. Without people, the place means nothing. The value is in the people.
I’m sure you have seen what happens, when a great restaurant or bar changes ownership, and suddenly the atmosphere plummets. The building and the surroundings look just the same, but it’s a totally different experience. That’s because it’s the people that make the difference!
Online networking: It’s the people not the tools
In online networking, I see people who are more concerned about how to get their friend / follower / fan numbers up, than they are about actually being human with the people they have already connected with. For them, it’s all about the tools, not the people. Their focus is on growing numbers, rather than building relationships with people.
These guys often have very professional looking Twitter profiles and great looking websites / blogs – but very little feeling of community. That’s because they focus on the tools, not the people. They may have 500, 5,000 or maybe 100,000 ‘names’ in their online network but they probably know just a fraction of them!
In short: People can enrich our lives or they can keep us poor. It just depends on how we treat and serve them.