4/20/16 by Alex Rynne – LinkedIn (excerpt) 

You are the person you’re trying to reach.

It’s no secret that marketers are busy. But we often get so caught up in deadlines and calendars that we forget what we’re really doing here. We forget how to connect and who we’re really trying to reach. Brian Solis reminded us in his session: “You are the person you’re trying to reach. And yet when it comes to marketing we think like marketers.”

We end up writing for the people who are approving our content and those who give us budgets. And amidst all of the editorial calendars, tech stunts and real-time marketing programs, we’re moving away from true thoughtfulness.

Behind every screen, every expression and impression is a human being, not a consumer. “Businesses are no longer the sole creator of a brand, it is co-created by consumers through shared experiences and defined by the results of online searches and conversations,” Brian said. People will never forget how a brand made them feel. Therefore we need more mindfulness, less strategy. We mustn’t forget that we are the people we’re marketing to.

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