The FMG Group

Whether it’s the marketing minds behind your local sneaker shop or the strategic gurus driving a presidential campaign, more brand strategists are placing less importance the old, “top-down” communication model. Historically touting a heavy dose of broadcast and radio, marketers now favor the more contemporary, ground-up approach (especially since their audience isn’t watching or listening anyway). As advances in technology mount, consumers will continue to be hit with messaging on all fronts, so marketers must reinvent their communication model to become more relevant.

There’s more to connecting with your target audience than a trendy sales message. Marketers must now connect with their audience on a much higher level that’s more akin to developing a friendship. By beginning the relationship on truth (where one party, aka. the marketer, does not have an agenda) and building on areas of similar interest, brands can connect with their audience and deliver lasting emotional impressions.

So, before you brand strategists out there begin to speak to your audience, get to know them. Check out what they read, what they’re into, what music they dig, and see what you have in common. By starting where they already are, or developing the physical or interactive venue to attract them, your efforts to connect will be more meaningful and require less money, time, and effort.