Who's Marketing vs. Who's Engaging?

Understand your buyer and give them the ability to create their own buyer journey. Too many companies use the method of emailing/marketing to you until something hopefully sticks. That may work in the short term but cannot scale.

This marketoonist cartoon always sticks out to me when I think about these topics:

Granted it's a little content-specific, I think one of the ways that a lot of companies fall short in the broader realms of nurture, too. There's not many who are really able to genuinely understand their customer's interests & concerns - but a lot who are able to wrap the business' interests up in a thinly veiled "trojan horse" of perceived customer interests.

I totally understand why, too - business interests are easy, and perceptions of customer interests are easy. It's also a necessary starting point for most businesses, but many never progress to the next stage - which is so often where the real magic is.

Customer service! Even though my fitbit dies within a year of buying it, I absolutely love that company because of their high level of customer service. When I call them, it genuinely feels like they want to help me and they're very quick with replacements. You can have a great product and great marketing and amazing sales team...if you can't retain customers you won't get anywhere.

Things like Marketo Community come to mind when referencing a great tactic for engagement marketing. I think having a platform for advocates and users to share information is a great way to market. Whether it's through a user group, an online platform, or just a few happy hours a year, creating a sense of community around a product or service works!