Face-to-Face Marketing
Social distancing has never brought us closer.
It's here. Brought on by forced conditions of quarantine , people and businesses have collectively shifted from video conferencing as an intermittent activity to now a daily or all-day activity. This is the new age of “face-to-face” marketing.
We should look at this time as a significant tectonic plate shift in marketing. Never before has human behavior been shifted all at once. Humans want connection, but the globe has never been starved of it. This will result in permanent ways we use technology to connect and our acceptance of how to use this for business.
At this moment video conferencing is still novel and generally new; however, very quickly we will find an entire culture speak about how this changes how we date, think, do business, and connect.
Follow the memes to see the culture’s current state:
Even before the pandemic arrived, research showed the demand for collaboration software and video conferencing tools were already on the rise. According to Gartner’s workforce consumer survey, the average amount of time employees spend in meetings each week has reached 11.7 hours, with 9% of respondents spending more than 20 hours of their working week in meetings. — Computer World — Pandemic leads to surge in video conferencing app downloads
I had experienced the impact of this just a few weeks ago working with one of the world’s top chiropractor and wellness innovators in North America and owner of Synergy Health Management, Dr. Jamie Grimes.
Jaime invited me to facilitate an ideation session with his team in the form of a mastermind. This session emphasized for me that this video conferencing trend is going to have a deeper and more lasting impact. (see my article in Business 2 Community Magazine).
Video conferencing and getting face to face is going to present opportunities and challenges for sales and marketing in ways we can not yet imagine. This is going to be a natural progression the more comfortable we get using it as a tool for business.
It's about connection in a personal way.
Dr. Grimes insightfully articulates why this could be the next big tsunami in marketing.
“I am always looking for ways to connect with our patients and clients in a more personal way. We have shifted areas of our business to be face to face using video conferencing. This innovation first was in response to the recent changes — now I am exploring how this can enhance my business in the future”
With this increase in use, demand, and comfort, this technology will give way to new ways to market and connect with customers in real time using video.
This new human-to-human interaction is going to give way to a more personal way to market.
This is face-to-face marketing. Mark my words: this is a new category.
Paddle in.
Scott A. Martin / Groundswell / Marketer Magazine
Podcast: The Groundswell Podcast
