Back to the Future
For most Americans 1955 was a time when community was the small town they lived in and made up of family and friends. The line between personal and business relationships was many times non-existent. Relationships were transparent (everyone knows that in a small town there are no secrets), authentic and built on trust. The next door neighbor was the family doctor and the insurance agent was the Boy Scout troop leader and everyone took part in the town’s 4th of July parade and brought a dish to the church pot luck on Friday nights.
Insurance agents (and other small business owners) had personal relationships with their customers and what we have labeled today as Inbound marketing is what marketing was. Customers called their agent when they needed advise or help with an insurance question, they asked neighbors for references, and gave their agent permission to contact them yearly for a full review. As an agent in 1955 you would have known first hand who your customers where, what they needed, and in effect engaged in One-To-One marketing by offering unique solutions based on individual need. The agency customer participated in the dialogue, offered feedback about service, and expected his or her agent to be there in time of need. Enter urbanization, big business, big government, the computer and the age of mass marketing. The individual was disenfranchised. Consumers became the victims of impersonal mass mailings, telemarketing, and of course spam. As citizens we lost our voice. Sound familiar? Aren’t the social mores, culture and fabric of small town and small business America in 1955 much of what is driving participation in Social Media and the desire to create “today’s” on-line community?
I think so. That is why Social Media is so compelling and why business needs to pay attention and become engaged. Today’s customer is using their Social Media community to research services, ask for advice from friends, and looking for service providers who are part of the community – they are engaging in Inbound Marketing. As an insurance agent and small business owner, your customers want and need to be able to find you and communicate with you. They want to know who you are both personally and professionally, they want dialogue and to be heard – they want a relationship and they are using Social Media to accomplish this. If you are not part of the Social Media community – you lose.
