Daniel Burstein

Command-and-Control Marketing vs. Servant-based Marketing

February 28th, 2012

What are we really talking about when we’re discuss cutting-edge marketing topics like mobile, social media and Priority Inbox?

These are just technologies. Zeros and ones dancing around in some magic box in the sky. In this interview with Jim Ducharme, Community Manager, GetResponse, I lay out my argument for where you really should focus your efforts in the year ahead, and it’s not on technology …

 

 

Essentially, you should be asking, “How can I serve my customers best?” And then the technology — whether social media, mobile or email — is just the channel through which you serve them.

Because if you do the reverse — focus on technology and cool sharing features, pixels and platforms at the expense of the character of your content — you’re just shooting yourself in the foot.

What’s the point of a share button if you don’t give people a reason to share? What does a mobile-optimized email matter if the content isn’t so engrossing that your recipient is walking into light poles?

 

View customers as a true audience, not potential revenue

This is possible when you start shifting your paradigm to that of a publisher, instead of a quota-carrying sales rep nearing the end of the month with his wide eyes set on that enticing spiff.

When you start taking on the viewpoint of a publisher, you start focusing on ways you can truly serve that audience instead of just sell to them. And every customer really only wants two things from your content:

  • Help overcoming something negative
  • Help achieving something positive

Do that well and you’ll earn their consent to become part of this bigger conversation that marketers no longer control with media spends. And they may just tell your friends about you, too.

 

Related Resources:

Video produced in cooperation with GetResponse Email Marketing. See more at: http://www.getresponse.com/promo/emailtv

Webinar Replay — How to Create Engaging Content for Successful Lead Generation

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6 Tactics for Increasing Site Traffic and Improving Content

Daniel Burstein

About Daniel Burstein

Daniel Burstein, Senior Director of Editorial Content, MECLABS. Daniel oversees all content and marketing coming from the MarketingExperiments and MarketingSherpa brands while helping to shape the editorial direction for MECLABS – digging for actionable information while serving as an advocate for the audience. Daniel is also a speaker and moderator at live events and on webinars. Previously, he was the main writer powering MarketingExperiments publishing engine – from Web clinics to Research Journals to the blog. Prior to joining the team, Daniel was Vice President of MindPulse Communications – a boutique communications consultancy specializing in IT clients such as IBM, VMware, and BEA Systems. Daniel has 18 years of experience in copywriting, editing, internal communications, sales enablement and field marketing communications.

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