Why Intrusive Marketing Is So Yesterday

If you live in New York City you know we have an election coming up this Fall that includes not only the office of Mayor but that of Comptroller, Public Advocate, Borough President and City Council. And you know that next week is the primary. 

It's hard to ignore. 

Take yesterday. I had six phone calls from candidates. Only one was a human.

My mailbox was stuffed full of political promotional material. 

I learned why there are robots making the phone calls. The humans are standing on the street corners and at every subway station, literally shoving paper under my nose and then acting offended when I shove it back. 

And then there is the local news. Every time I turned it on there were no less than three candidate's ads in one commercial break.

I wanted to tell them all that intrusive advertising has gone out of fashion. Marketing in 2013 is about engaging me, not annoying me. I wanted to suggest giving me a reason to want to listen instead of trying to force feed me. I wanted to tell them that this constant bombardment of campaign promises and mudslinging against their opponents was not going to help any of them get my vote. In fact, it was starting to backfire. 

Their promotional material was going to the shredder without me even reading it. I was hanging up on their automated messages. That is as soon as I was sure the call was not from a potential new client.  

But as I mentioned, only one was a human. And by the time she called I was so fed up I hung up on her too - after I told her - not at all politely - that these calls were intrusive and out of hand. 

Besides - I'm not sure if any of them heard me they would listen. 

Too many marketers don't get how out of fashion intrusive marketing has become.  They resist using new digital technologies and when they do they insist upon applying old thinking to their strategy.  So they push and they push and bombard and bombard some more - convinced this is the only way they will be heard - until you, the recipient find yourself yelling at a robot call. 

New York politicians are not alone. There are many brands who hold on tight to push marketing principles. 

The Wall Street Journal keeps sending me solicitations that say Welcome Back on the outside of the envelope even though I have no subscription.

More Magazine called wanting to "talk" to me about my subscription to which I replied - are you kidding? I have no time to talk to you about my subscription. I barely have time to write this blog!

Which leads me to this. In a world in which the noise level keeps going up and time is at a premium, trying to push your way into mine will not work. In fact - it may do you more harm than good.


One final note. While researching for this blog I discovered a cool new website called www.decidenyc.com that is an inclusive list of all the candidates and their records and not the least bit intrusive.



Like this blog? Don't want to miss the next one? Sign up here to have it delivered right to your mailbox! 

Gone Listening

Last night someone asked me how often I blogged. I said my goal is to write once a week. Which is the truth. I strive for one quality post a week. Hopefully something that falls into my mission to be either practical and useful or thought provoking. Something worth sharing. Tweetworthy.

I quickly fessed up that I've been lax of late. I knew it had been over two weeks since I had last written a word here. And I wanted this person to know in the event he decided to visit my site. I wanted to be clear I am not a fraud even though I had not posted one single blog in the month of March. I  wanted him to be certain I am not one of those people who say they blog, when they don't. I am a blogger. Among other things. 

I admit to feeling consumed with guilt.

A blog is a commitment. It's a place to speak one's mind. To share information and thoughts on the topic of one's choices. It needs care and nurturing. And I have been remiss.

But there are reasons. Good ones.

In this 24/7 digital space we live in everyone has something to say, every moment of every day. Some of it is really good and some is just awful. Sometimes it all starts to sound like white noise to me. It makes listening hard. And listening is important. In fact listening may be more important than speaking.

If you are not listening, you have no basis by which to voice your point of view. And by listening, I mean listening. Not simply hearing words. There is a difference. And if you don't believe me, you are probably not listening at all.

The essence of the digital space we live in is about engaging and sharing through technology. It is what makes digital marketing different from marketing as we knew it. To fully engage, one must first listen. With both ears and their brain. Sometimes that means being quiet and keeping ones thoughts to oneselves. For a bit. Until it is time to share again.

I've been spending time listening. A lot. More on that later. But for now let me just say, it appears it's time for me to share again.