No. 4 April 2014

We have all been told that if we would only collect more data about our business or our customers or our industry, we would be so much smarter, our marketing would magically become more successful and we would see instant results in revenue growth and satisfied customers.  If you believe that, then you and I need to talk about a bridge I’m selling. 

Jake Sorofman, in a recent HBR.org Blog, states that “Data, alone, isn’t what makes marketing move the needle for business.”  But he does believe that while “data can play a leading role in developing strategy and bringing precision to execution, it does nothing, absolutely nothing – to stir motivation and create the desire that makes cash registers ring.  Data is important, but it is content that makes an emotional connection (with a customer.)  Marketing leaders must remember that true brand intelligence lives at the intersection of head and heart, where the emotional self meets the analytical self.”

Sorofman lists “four strategic leverage points that allow marketers to deliver the right offers and experiences to the right customer at the right time while optimizing engagement and conversion rates.”  The first leverage point is “observing customer behavior to gain new insights.”  The second is “engagement, where you make impersonal brand messages more humanized, resulting in greater customer acceptance.”  The third leverage point is “inspiration, where moments of human insight and perception are captured, indexed, and harvested for strategic advantage.”  And the fourth is “automation, where speed and precision are used to target offers and experiences across channels for continuous optimization based on measured effectiveness.”

If you are so focused on your data that you misjudge or overlook the emotional connection you must make with your customers with your content and message, your marketing efforts will never be fully successful.

We’ve all heard the description used sometimes to describe a person that states, “He or She is a class act!”  Harvey Mackay says that “Class is hard to define, but easy to recognize.  Similarly, the absence of class is easy to detect – and a serious flaw for anyone who aspires to be successful.”

Mackay continues by saying “class is not an ‘act.’  It’s a deep-seated way of life for those who possess it.  Having class involves good manners, politeness, and pride without showboating, empathy, humility, and an abundance of self-control.  The actions of class-act people speak louder than their words.  You can see it in their body language and the way they carry themselves.  Class always shows without being announced.”

“People can tell if you have class by the way you interact with others.  If you have class, you don’t need much of anything else to be a winner.  If you don’t have it, no matter what you do, it won’t make up the difference.  Money, notoriety or success by themselves won’t give you class.  Class comes from within, not from external sources.”

Jack Canfield, in his book The Success Principles, lists some reasons why being a class act helps you succeed.  He writes, “People want to do business with you or become involved in your sphere of influence.  They perceive you as successful and someone who can expand their possibilities.  They trust you to act with responsibility, integrity and aplomb.  Class acts tend to attract people who are at the top of their game.”

So look closely at your network of friends, co-workers, customers and so on.  Are they class acts?  Whether you realize it or not, they are a reflection of you.

Harvey Mackay says “the good news is that if you don’t like what you see, you can change.  Make a decision to recreate yourself as a class act and see what kind of people you start attracting.  Do fewer things, but do them better.  Change your behavior for the better.  Raise the quality of your attitude.  When you have a higher level of personal standards, you get better treatment from everyone around you.  Once you’re a class act, you can say a lot without ever uttering a word.”