I have noticed that time savers like eBlasts are still all the rage. We attempt to target as much as we can. However, I see the slippery slope backwards for audience development.

We are supposed to be building relationships, not treating a block of people the same. We may have smaller blocks, but we are treating them like numbers, not individuals.

If you are thinking block target marketing is audience development, then you are slipping. Every time you step away from true conversations, real engagement, and getting to know your people as people, well, that is not audience development in the true sense of the concept.

I admit, time savers are a blessing when capacity is low. I understand how difficult it is to build when there might be only a few people working on the dream and all your goals. The difference though is astounding when you do audience development correctly.

I have had experience with low capacity. Sometimes these organizations listen, sometimes not because of the capacity issues. What ends up happening when corners are cut to save time is that they are not establishing a loyal audience as one had hoped. They instead do constant marketing to blocks of numbers, and it becomes a numbers game instead of a relationship game.

In one instance, an organization keeps churning. The audience is new almost every year with a very tiny base that returns. The numbers grow each year due to more outreach, but the loyalty has not.

This slippery slope is meant to tell us to dig in and climb back up, not to keep sliding backwards using the same methods that are making us slip.

I will keep at it and continue the message – build relationships or keep sliding backwards. It’s your choice for the new year.

Cheers to loyal and happy audiences,
Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza
Chief Audience Builder, Audience Development Specialists

PS My thought for the new year, build a new way to save time that still treats people like individuals. There has to be a way!