I read a couple of very interesting articles today that you need to read. They both dealt with marketing today, in light of our changing society, advances in technology and the current economic crunch.

The first one by Roy H. Williams, the Wizard of Ads in one of his Monday Morning Memos talks about our society changing from one of idealism to one of belonging. The main thing I think you should take away from this article is this quote

“Listen to the street. “Being cool” has become “Keepin’ it real.”

Naiveté is rare today. Your customer is equipped with a bullshit detector that is highly sensitive and amazingly accurate. And the younger the customer, the more accurate their bullshit detector.

When selling, remember: If you don’t admit the downside, they won’t believe the upside.”

The second article is from Michelle Miller’s Wonder Branding Blog and looks at some lessons we as marketers should learn from the Presidential election.

There are two lessons I think you as wedding professionals marketing today need to understand.

“no more sticking your head in the sand – it is imperative that your business utilize technology as a tool for communicating with your customers and employees through dialogue, not monologue. Don’t have a website? Better get one. Have a website? Probably not good enough. Women, through a desire for connection and communication, will be demanding to have conversations with the brands they choose, and will want to customize their experience with you as much as possible. Time for reading newspapers and magazines, and sitting down to watch TV are on the decline; time for research, personalized shopping experiences and conversation through Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter are on the rise. Forward-thinking uses of technology will have to become an important part of your marketing budget.”

(emphasis mine)

The second take away, amplifies what Williams said in the first article;

“With four times as many connections between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, a woman’s BS meter is in hyper-drive, so authenticity and transparency are key to making the connection with another individual, a political campaign, or a brand. The more she can “see you real” as a consumer, the more she’ll love you (warts and all).”

So what does all this have to do with you? For one thing these are your potential clients they are talking about. If you try to BS these women they are going to spot it a mile away. Second, they are going to give their money to the people they feel the most connection with, people just like them.

If you aren’t out there in the land of social media with blogs, and profiles on the social networks and doing it with honesty and transparency you are going to get left in the dust.

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