Breaking Up Is Hard To Do?

TweetAs we propel headlong into the Marketing 2.0 era, traditional marketing (television, radio commercials, print ads, etc) is becoming more and more difficult to execute. The big brands know it and I hope that you and your tiny business know it as well.

The big brands are starting to make more and more of a push into blogging, social media and online video.

Here are some good examples – go on check them out:

General Motors Fast Lane Blog - Where GM “works on ideas that will influence future vehicles.”
Coca Cola on Facebook - With nearly 4 million fans of their Facebook Fan Page, Coke definitely understands the value of social media.
Jet Blue on Twitter - 1.5 million Twitter followers are receiving tweets from Jet Blue Airways.
Fox Broadcasting on YouTube – With nearly 40,000 subscribers and millions of downloads, Fox is serving up video on the largest video sharing site in the world.

Do you know what scares the heck (hey- it’s a PG rated blog) out of these big brands?

Breaking Up Is Hard Easy To Do

The relationships our businesses build in these Marketing 2.0 channels are fragile ones. The customer is in 100% control because of one important difference — THEY CAN TURN US OFF.

They stop visiting the General Motors Fast Lane blog
They “un-fan” the Coca Cola fan page
They “unfollow” the Jet Blue Twitter account
They unsubscribe from the Fox Broadcasting YouTube channel

As your customers and prospects continue to become more and more difficult to INTERRUPT due to technologies like iPods, Tivo, Netflix and RSS they are taking the reigns of power in the marketing relationship.

And they can break up with you at any time. They simply shut you off.

The Good News For Tiny Business Owners

This can be great news for your tiny business! Yes, it is easy for customers to break up with you as well. However, you have an opportunity to be more personal than the big brands. Because your business is so small, it can be more “human” than the big brands and corporations.

We, as consumers, tend to break up with people when we don’t feel like we are getting ample attention. When we don’t feel like our needs are being met. As a tiny business owner, you can take the time to REALLY get to know your customers and prospects and deliver a more personal message to them.