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  • Get Your Customers to do Stuff for You

    Posted on January 29th, 2009 by Spike and currently 5 commenting.

    This has got to be the biggest red flag we’re seeing these days. This idea that you can “get” your customers to do things. Get them to buy. Visit. Blog. Comment. Engage. Evangelize. Own. Get them. Get them. Get them.

    I think this is almost a sub-conscious slip-up of most marketers held over from the marketing 101 days. Remember that vocabulary? Where we target segments, launch a campaign and aim for target domination? Ya know, that war mentality.

    But I digress. With the barriers coming down that marketing and advertising have built up over the years, there’s still this idea that – even by “engaging” with your customers – you can get them to do something.

    Look, we can’t “get” people to do anything. And if that’s the mentality, then we all lose. Social media isn’t going to change that. Or make it any easier to get people to do things for you.

    Just something to chew on as we all navigate these new waters.

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5 Responses to “Get Your Customers to do Stuff for You”

  1. Chris Rackley January 30th, 2009 at 3:56 am

    Nice, Spike! You know, you should do a post sometime about those “barriers” that have come down in marketing. I’d love to hear your take on those.

    Just a thought.

  2. Ang January 30th, 2009 at 6:25 am

    Word! Hey companies: If you can get me to let YOU do something for ME, I think you’re on the right track. My social networking dance card has been reserved for my ego, not yours but, if you’re charming enough (and maybe buy me a drink), I might just let you cut in.

  3. Jon January 30th, 2009 at 9:09 am

    Right on. No one likes to be told what to do. But if we can provide resources to allow people to do what they want to do, everyone wins.

    In my job, people often ask, “so what’s your charge for all of this?” My answer is, nothing. I merely provide the things they need to do the things they want to do. Of course, they don’t believe this, but realize it when I explain that if we’re both doing what we want to do, together, a whole other set of people will arrive - with an interest in buying what we’re offering together.

    Why focus on getting one person to do something they don’t want to do, when you can create value for hundreds of others?

  4. Customers don’t work for you - No engagement - No advocates : The LEADSExplorer Blog: Lead generation - Website visitors - CRM - B2B January 30th, 2009 at 10:24 am

    [...] Spike Jones in “Brains on Fire” states: “Get your customers to do Stuff for you” is not realistic. Even though many sales and marketing people talk and blog about customer [...]

  5. Tom Stockwell February 3rd, 2009 at 7:29 am

    Chris, as an online marketing guy I want my customer to move down the sales funnel and convert. I know from research that I can significantly improve the percentage of those who choose that path by applying communication strategies that effectively engage the consumer. Great online e-commerce conversion rates can be as low as 5% of visitors but if we spoke in terms of “what we got the consumer to do”, we’d have to admit we’re 95% failures.

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