Looking at Marketing — Hey You Talking to Me?
Posted by Liz Strauss · 2 Comments
Every day I get catalogues in the mail. I get junk mail. I get the odd indefinable direct mail piece. I open a magazine and glue-in cards prevent me from turning pages easily, while blow-in cards fall on the floor. I go to trade shows. I more of the same kind of things shoved at me. All of them qualify as marketing talk. Most of them talk AT me.
Few of the marketing pieces that make into my hands show any sign of anyone having taken the time to find out who I am. There is no hint that anyone cares about whether I want what they are pitching to me. I am a demographic to them.
I like to buy things from human beings. I like to talk about what I will buy to make sure that it suit me, fits me, is appropriate to my lifestyle. Sometimes I just like to have a connection with another person on the other side of a transaction — at the very least, I want to feel that a letter, a catalogue, a direct mail piece is talking TO me, not AT me. That requires understanding the smallest bit about me beyond my demographics. It require understanding that I have humanity.
Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice. — The Cluetrain Manifesto
A direct mail piece that authentically talks to me with a human voice gets my attention. It happens so rarely.
That’s why I’d rather read your blog than your catalogue.
Liz Strauss
And blog writing is a special case micro-content composition that is a unque art.
I like Seth Godin’s pithy but profound insight style of short posts.
I like Richard Edelman’s long and complex posts.
Most blogs need better formatting of text and better use of graphics and sidebars.
Most writers need to understand that presentation is as important as structure and expression. You’re right about that Steven.
Micro-composition is an art.