How to build a connection with your audience

Issue No. 18: Speed and connection. Telling a story is simple and it comes down to just being human in your marketing.

Stat: Weeks/Months vs. Days/Week

Fred Wilson of AVC.com recently wrote about how venture capital has changed from weeks and months to make a decision down to days or maybe a week or two.

So, what’s the big deal? The big deal is that Fred says the increased speed of deals has not hurt their ability to find winners or make good decisions.

My friend Eric wrote in his newsletter recently about the 80% rule: get to 80% and then go. We live in a world where we seek an abundance of information — information paralysis — and then we are worried about making the right decision.

When it comes to marketing, get to 80% and start testing. Learn. Then get to 83%. Learn. Bounce back to 75%. Learn. Just keep learning.

Did You Hear?

After years on the sideline … Adele is back!

Coming mid-November, Adele will be releasing her fourth album, “30.” It’s a story about her marriage and divorce.

Why does this matter to a marketing newsletter?

Because this is only her fourth album … and it’s going to be huge! Even more-so, she’s been quiet. Now she pops back and will own the music news upon the release. She’s built the cache, the cred, and the following to empower a release like this. Telling true stories (which is all her music presents) builds connection. Being human builds connection.

Something to Consider

I have been thinking a lot about the stories we tell. And obviously this is a marketing newsletter so I think about marketing stories a lot more than others.

@AaronOrendorff tweeted yesterday about using your stories for big impact. His tweet-storm got me thinking about an idea that has been in my head for a few weeks.

The counter-weight of engaging content.

Think of it this way:

On one side you can have a big impact with a big hitting story. On the other you have small impacts over and over again with small, deep stories that connect over and over again.

The largest impacts come from the small intimate moments. Find more small moments.