In case you have been living under a rock, or just too busy to read much of what is going on in the world, we have come to a time where information multiplies quickly and the next trend is already the last trend.
From a thought leadership perspective this means to be ahead of the curve you need to be talking not about what is here, or what is just arriving, but really what is coming in the months or years ahead. This is sometimes referred to as trend spotting, but let’s just agree that seeing the future is valuable.
In the world of business, technology and communication and the various subcategories that lie beneath them, the rapid transformation that stirs the online eco-system and fills it with insight and analysis is also a massive headache for practitioners. (Read: people who are doing things other than reading about the next big gadget or trend) Given that this group of busy individuals aren’t always up to snuff on topics like Big Data, Search Engine Optimization, Context Marketing and all kinds of other “Buzz” concepts, it is time for those of us who guide these businesses to take a step back and recognize that we have to get back to communication basics and start speaking to our audience.
The Conversation That Sparked This Revelation
I suppose we would think that it is mere common sense that we would speak to our audience, but sometimes it isn’t. I think this is partially driven by the fact that many marketers and futurist types spend an inordinate amount of time congregating around the water cooler and this leads to setting unrealistic expectations that everyone we associate understand shifting business and tech trends.
Recently I wrote an article I wrote about how the informed consumer is creating a new buyers journey. To provide an example I described how a modern consumer may purchase a car and how from start to finish there may be very little interaction with the dealer. In short, the consumer controls the information and seeks out validation from their peers.
I sent the article over to a peer and got back a response that more or less said, this is old news, which immediately had me wondering if I had just written another “Me too” article about something everyone knows. Upon further consideration I realized that the problem was this is perhaps old news to the person I shared it with, but to the majority of business owners this is an important shift that needs to be explained and acted on.
This idea about the informed consumer, which is also one of the big premises behind my new book is one that is changing sales in just about every industry. When I talk to many B2B companies this is a fairly new revelation to them. While they have noticed a shift, they hadn’t pinpointed it and certainly hadn’t done anything about it.
Provide Value To Your Audience, Forget Your Peers
Understandably we all have the desire to be liked and further we seek validation from our peers. This was the exact reason that I sent the article for review. I was hoping to hear that I was on to something good. But really I already knew this and asking my peers for their validation is really a mistake because like me, they are following these types of trends in business, tech and marketing.
What really matters is that we are adding value to our audience and that the ideas we share and content we create have a high utility value to those we serve in our businesses.
If by some manner we are able to impress our peers with our vast intellect or forward views than so be it, but that shouldn’t be the goal because being impressive to someone that will never hire you really doesn’t (shouldn’t) matter.
Truth be told, I enjoy nothing more than some water cooler talk about what the future will look like, but for the sake of all of us who work to make our clients more successful, let’s focus our energy on communicating value and teaching them what they need to know to drive better outcomes. And yes, sometimes that may mean we have to tell them something that to us is common sense.
