Will You Be My Valentine? Why Effective Marketing is a lot Like Dating

Marketing is a lot like dating, in terms of the concept, the protocols, the prerequisites; the results you get are based upon the efforts you are willing to put in. You spend your entire life locating the one (tool), you have to be patient while investing money and energy in planning and impressing someone (client). If you stick around for long enough, nurture your relationship meticulously, not pressure your other half, you will one day be invited in. The logistics are the same. Keep reading and you will see what I am talking about.

Did I mention that marketing is just as expansive as dating? If you are a dating expert, perfect, you should integrate your dating expertise and pickup lines in your marketing plan. If you suck at dating, well, read on. Here is a classic love song “Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy” by Queen for you to play in the background while enjoying my Valentine’s Day post:

Let’s face it: Most guys despise the idea of Valentine’s Day and the rules that come with it. Might as well call it another Woman’s Day. If you are a male reader, you have my sympathy and sentiment.

However, you may choose to overlook your lover’s wants this year, you absolutely have to pull up your client list and start writing cards or sending them roses, at least the electronic ones on social media. In case you have never written a card, read more here on how to write one or how to send one online.

Playing Nice

Everyone has heard of these common observations: “Guys like bad girls” and “Girls like bad boys”, which are so true – nobody likes boring. What does this mean to marketers? Let your edginess shine on social media. Personality is more important than playing nice.

Missteps

If you were dating multiple people simultaneously, would you use the same strategy for all of your dates? Perhaps an ultimate pickup line is reusable, but no. A date is like a follower on Facebook. You need to go into Facebook Insights, look at their likes, background, interests, in order to locate their sweet spots and sweep them off their feet. Then they are yours for life.

We all recognize the type of people and their selfish behavior we resent on a first date: Starting every sentence with an “I” and boring the other person to death with all of their growing up stories. Pause for a second and reflect on your business’s social media etiquette. Are you trying your best to courage your followers to give you feedback on your services?

Special Occasions

Let’s say this Valentine’s Day, you accidentally forget to send your regards to the person you are involved in; consequently, they will feel neglected on some level. If you happen to be the only candidate on your date’s list, lucky you. However, if there is another person who has been waiting in the dark with bad intentions to ambush your date, and extends loving gestures on this special occasion, you will have a problem or a breakup text the next day. The same goes for marketing. Sometimes what it takes to win someone over is simply a “Happy Valentine’s Day”, which will make you stand out among your competitors. On any given day, a warm holiday greeting will make anyone’s day. And people still judge a (Face)book by its cover (page)! Be inconsiderate, and your followers will unlike you and cozy up to your competitor.

Polygamy

According to dictionary.com, “polygamy” is the practice or condition of having more than one spouse, especially wife, at one time. In short, dating more than one person at a time, which is what we all do in the social media judgement-free zone. Although we wish there was software like HootSuite to manage all of your “dates” at once.

Polygamy is the opposite to what I usually advocate. I have been faithful to Facebook for years, ever since I started. It’s what I have been preaching: Stay loyal to one platform at a time, pour your heart and soul out, and if it still does not work for your business, then move on. Many attorneys have approached me over the years with the same question, “How long will it take before I see results?” They use the same strategy for all social networking channels, and whatever they post on Twitter will show up exactly the same way on Facebook. In the dating world, this phenomenon is equal to sending all of your dates a generic message. The marketers, who know their audiences inside and out, tailor their messages accordingly, are the ones that will get paid at the end of the day.

Conclusion

Effective marketing is a lot like dating. If you are poor, restricted with a small budget, you’d better go the extra one thousand miles in creativity to impress your followers with humor on social media, and patiently wait for your “likes” to go up; if you are loaded, well, the sky’s the limit. Happy Valentine’s Day!