I was talking with a former neighbor who is under 40 and recently moved to Toronto. She raved about being able to walk everywhere and rarely drives for her day-to-day needs. “It’s a progressive city,” she said, “where I walk just about everywhere.”
Wait a minute. That’s the way it used to be before urban sprawl and the flight from cities struck in the 50s and 60s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_sprawl. We suddenly became enamored with driving everywhere and then congregating in malls.
But, now the tide is turning back again. Society is placing renewed value on being able to walk everywhere for energy savings and the sheer joy of strolling along sidewalks, window shopping and people watching – the way it is in European and metropolitan U.S. cities. We like the idea of interesting little shops where we can actually get to know the owner.
Housing has experienced a similar full-circle phenomenon. I realized this 15 years ago when visiting the home of Anne Hathaway and William Shakespeare. The guide noted that “Back then, they did everything in a central room with the fireplace – cooking, sewing, entertaining, reading, and spending time with family.” I thought, “A Great Room!” Today, everyone wants to combine the kitchen, dining area and den into one big room. In older homes, we tear down the walls that separate us, so we can all be together again.
There’s a pattern here. The faster the world turns, the more we crave relationships. And, that has a technology application, too. It's called inbound marketing. Social marketing.
Just as urban socialization improves the quality of life, being able to connect the way we want to connect online is creating a new definition of relationship.
Technology has expanded this insatiable desire to know more about the people we are dealing with as well as an expectation that companies we buy from get to know our likes, dislikes and buying patterns. If we just bought a new piece of furniture, we want to know when the store has special promotions on other pieces and get advanced notice when the group is being discontinued. We appreciate the information.
The technology definition of relationships is all about receiving and being able to access the content that is relevant to us. With a few taps on our smart phones, we can find out everything we want to know about the companies we’re dealing with and the products they carry. We can do comparison shopping, place an order or just get answers. And, as in business, it is in your best interests to meet them online where they are looking and with the information they want to find.
That’s where inbound marketing gets really interesting. We can help you fully integrate all marketing vehicles so you can measure what is working, or not working. We can help you reach out to individuals that are seeking that online sense of relationship. We can tell you what people want to know so you can provide answers. We can tell you the search words they most often use and improve your SEO and organic searches.
If you know you need to do more but don’t know how to do it, tell us what digital marketing means to you, what is working and what you just haven’t gotten a handle on yet. We can help. http://www.mcneillcommunications.com/hubspot
Are you using inbound marketing? Tell us your success stories…or what you wish you could learn about your company.
