Back in the day, before the printing press, before radio, before television, and certainly before the Internet, there were only a few ways for businesses to connect with an audience. After removing these media streams, what are you left with? Word of Mouth? Referrals? Maybe some guerilla or experiential tactics if you were clever enough?
I would be extremely interested to travel back in time to observe the economical operations during the 15th century. Can you imagine how genuine and authentic people and businesses had to be? Marketing plans were strictly based around face-to-face communication and the importance of a firm handshake. How great does that sound? It was a COMMUNITY based around REAL and tangible relationships.
Now take a step off the time machine and observe the vast majority of companies trying to recreate those same relationships today. It’s exactly the same. In fact, it identifies that our country’s evolution has come full-circle. The only difference is that companies now have to connect virtually through the power of the Internet and social media tools. It’s all about the power of the virtual handshake. It’s the number of customers you can create a genuine and trusting relationship with. Most importantly, it’s how you can do this better than your competition.