You’re in marketing for one reason: Grow. Grow your company, reputation, customers, impact, profits. Grow yourself. This is a community that will help. It will stretch your mind, connect you to fascinating people, and provide some fun along the way. I am so glad you’re here. -Mark Schaefer
As I consider my career, a theme of my writing and speaking has been exploring how we stand out and become the signal in a noisy world. Along the way, the world has become even noisier (thank you, AI), and our jobs as marketers have become more difficult. And yet, there is a straightforward solution. Our marketing priority remains clear …
The relevance report
Over the years, the number of subscribers to this blog has grown steadily (and I thank you!). But from time to time, people naturally unsubscribe, and the most popular reason is: “Content is no longer relevant.”
That says a lot. Maybe it tells me everything.
If I’m not relevant, I’m not a successful brand. And there’s a lesson for you, too. I can’t be relevant to everyone, but I need to be relevant to a critical mass of people to make my business thrive.
Why do I become irrelevant to some? Maybe I’ve changed my direction a little, and I’m no longer relevant. Perhaps my customer has changed, and they’re looking for something else now. Or maybe they’re in a new job. But in any case, if I’m not relevant, I’m out of action.
Why does content succeed over the long haul? You must be exceedingly, superbly, precisely relevant to your customers.
That might mean that to them, you’re the coolest, the most luxurious, the most attentive, or the best value. There are many ways your customers might expect you to be relevant to them. When you get down to it, this is really what “differentiation” is about today when it comes to content marketing.
How do you know if you’re relevant?
The most obvious sign of relevance is sales, or registrations, or subscribers, or whatever your metric of forward motion is. Positive progress is a sign of positive relevance.
But you can’t rely on lagging indicators. This world is changing so quickly that you need to be constantly assessing the competitive landscape. I’ve never found a better indicator of relevance than simply taking the pulse of my customers on a regular basis.
I recently surveyed and interviewed blog readers and I and I learned a few things that will result in tweaks. I can’t be relevant to everybody, but I need to be relevant to a critical mass of people who will hire me to consult for them or give a speech some day!
For me to be successful, to stand out in this world, I can’t be just top of mind. I have to be top of heart.
The rules of brand relevance
Last week I had a call with a first-time customer. She told me that she had read almost every post I’ve ever written for at least 10 years. Think about the implications of this. Somehow I’ve stayed relevant to her over a decade of constant change. And a good thing too, because it took her that long to hire me! Thank goodness I kept evolving long enough to hold her attention until she needed to hire me.
What are some guidelines that can help us remain relevant in the long term?
Be customer-centric.
Everything your brand invests in, builds, and brings to market should be designed to meet the needs of your target markets. This includes needs that customers themselves might not yet be aware of. It’s about working to see what others don’t.
Don’t sell a product. Sell an answer to a customer problem. And those problems keep changing.
Focus on experience.
Focusing on your customers means focusing on how people experience your brand. As a result, every touchpoint counts, and relevancy can only be maintained if your brand interacts and engages in relevant ways. It’s not only about a single product or a new website. Your brand has to create a holistic experience that is relevant to your target audiences at every point.
I recently met with a woman who wondered why her professional speaking business was flailing. She had not updated her website in nearly 15 years. Her image was dated. Are people experiencing you in a way that’s relevant to the world today?
Look for seams.
In my book Cumulative Advantage, I introduced a strategic concept I called “the seam.”
Finding seams means constantly assessing the status quo to determine how you can become newly relevant in light of today’s trends. Every problem, crisis, and technology shift creates un-met and under-served customer needs. How do you apply your company strengths to be relevant right now?
Most organizations have a long-term strategy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t tweak your approach and web copy to connect to what’s happening with customers this year or even this month. A huge opportunity for most companies!
Look up.
As I travel around the world and meet with company leaders, I often see they are stuck in a marketing trough. They developed a marketing plan two or three years ago and are chunking out social media content accordingly. They haven’t looked up to see how the world works now.
Consumption patterns have changed. The shelf life of relevance is shorter. On TikTok, “relevant” might be 24 hours. To remain relevant, re-assess what, where, and how you’re publishing content at least once a year.
One last idea on your marketing priority …
There is one big mistake I see a lot of business leaders make when focusing on relevance as a marketing priority: They confuse what they’re selling with what customers are buying.
Let me explain through one of my favorite examples. I was helping a regional telecom with a new marketing strategy. This company was led by a group of people who were extremely proud of the latest technology they were offering. All of their marketing was focused on their latest (and quite complicated!) tech.
But when I talked to their customers, they never mentioned the superior technology. They told me they loved this company because of their service and reliability One customer called them “my security blanket.” Quite a different story!
This insight led to a new understanding of how to connect with customers in a relevant way. Tech was not relevant. Reliability and security were the relevant themes so we overhauled the marketing messaging.
If you focus on being relentlessly relevant, you’ll be inherently different. Obsess with customers, not competitors, to find your truest path to marketing success.
Need a keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.
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Illustration courtesy Google Gemini
