Dear Reader,
Greetings from New York City as my neighborhood returns to normal after the Pride celebrations marking the initial Stonewall Riots for Gay Rights that started on June 28, 1969.
During June, businesses around my neighborhood dress their windows and establishments in Pride colors to show their support.
Some may consider this “woke-washing” – the use of a holiday that doesn’t apply to your brand but makes it appear inclusive. But the businesses in our neighborhood do so to support local residents.
Table of Contents | Volume 11, Issue 26
- Marketing Lesson of The Week – Where Is Marketing In The Age Of AI Headed?
- New York Marketing Minute – Taking a Break
- Marketing Reads
- Mark Your Calendar
What does this mean for your marketing?
Consider which holidays matter for your business, your audience and your community.
Recommended Reading
With the Pride Parade going down Fifth Avenue and another one moving up Sixth Avenue through Chelsea and the Village on Sunday, traffic was rerouted to allow people to strut their colors proudly.
Bars, restaurants and sidewalks overflowed with celebrants enjoying their freedom to be their true selves. Many wore Pride colored outfits.
As we approach the Fourth of July, a day commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, hopefully one day, our country will accept people for who they are and what they can contribute to creating an inclusive society and building a better world.
Recommended Reading
Actionable Marketing Lesson
- Respect your broader audience. This encompasses your prospects, customers, employees and local community. Don’t define them solely based on race, religion, sexual identification or other differences. Realize that people’s differences may not always be visible or auditory.
Recommended Reading
Marketing Lesson of The Week
► Where Is Marketing Headed In The Age Of AI?
Currently we’re in the accelerated, hype phase of Artificial Intelligence as businesses and individuals continue to explore and find uses for this new technology.
Back in 2019, I wrote about the Seismic Shift in Content Marketing and Marketing. At the core, this change was about increased content saturation This influenced the adoption of AI and, ultimately, resulted in expanded use of voice functionality. At the time, most voice use cases referred to the Amazon Echo and Google Assistant devices.
This overlooked 2 key voice offerings and behaviors:
- Consumers spoke to their smartphones to get information quickly regardless of where they were including, possibly your retail establishment.
- Businesses used increasingly intelligent systems known as IVRs (interactive voice response) and IVAs (intelligent voice assistants) systems efficiently and cost-effectively to answer questions and route calls. Voice offerings continue to expand to location specific options, cars and other category-tailored offerings.
As you assess how to make your brand and business stand out, consider these 3 key marketing challenges:
- Reduced customer loyalty, trust and retention as the marketplace continues to change and evolve.The combination of increased purchasing by younger demographics especially Gen Z and consumers trading down based on price and product availability. McKinsey found that almost 9 out of 10 shoppers will shop around.
With WFH (Work From Home), the Great Resignation and layoffs from major tech firms, B2B businesses may face difficulties reaching existing customers since their contacts may have changed and their replacements may be difficult to locate.
- Social media trust and usage continues to evolve. While Twitter, Reddit and TikTok face major public challenges, expect your audience and community may change their habits. At a minimum, follow Brooke Sellas’s lead and use social media customer service to meet your customers when, where and how they are seeking information.
- Search continues to expand. Consider how to be findable and discoverable when, where and via the platforms, devices and content formats your prospect chooses. Add a phone number and/or a QR code to help prospects take the next action toward purchase.
Recommended Reading
New York Marketing Minute
► Taking a Break
After spending years writing this newsletter and blog posts for the Actionable Marketing Guide, explaining evolving changes in marketing and the broader world, I’ve decided to take the summer off. This includes writing this newsletter on a monthly basis, not a weekly one.
During the uncertainty of the pandemic and beyond, I believed that you, my readers, needed the consistency and insights to feel connected and to know that you weren’t alone facing these challenges.
For some, this newsletter provided insights into life in New York City from one marketer’s point of view.
While your on-going readership means a lot to me and it has kept me accountable. I need a break to clear my head and take care of myself.
When you work for yourself, it can be difficult to declare “I need a break.” And hopefully you may bed inspired to think about what you need to do for yourself.
What is Heidi Cohen planning to do this summer?
- Renovate our apartment. This project requires more time and attention than I initially expected.
- Get back in shape. Last October, I tripped on a broken sidewalk in Washington, DC. While I was fortunate not to break anything, I need to exercise to reduce long-term pain.
- Work on my creative writing. Even though I spend a lot of time and effort writing a wide range of content and marketing materials, I want to rekindle my creative work. For me, this means a combination of non-marketing writing and reading on a daily basis.
- Publish a monthly edition of Actionable Marketing Guide Newsletter. During my break, the Actionable Marketing Guide Newsletter will appear on the last Tuesday of the month instead of weekly.
Wishing you a Happy July Fourth!
Recommended Reading
Marketing Reads
For those of you looking for inspiration for your content marketing including blog articles, here are two articles to help get your juices flowing.
I’m reading a lot of mystery classics this summer including:
- Agatha Christie,
- Ross MacDonald, and
- Lee Child.
In the introduction to the current copy of Killing Floor, the first Jack Reacher novel, Child wrote a new introduction explaining his approach to writing a mystery.
Looking for a well plotted thriller?
Read Stacy Abrams’s While Justice Sleeps.
Plan Ahead: Mark Your Calendar
► The Conversation Design Conference – July 24th – 25th in London, UK
bringing together the leading thinkers and doers in Conversation Design
Organized by VUX World.
► Marketing AI Conference – July 26 – 28 in Cleveland, OH
Register now with the promo code: RAIMOND100 for $100 off of the purchase price.
► Voice and AI – September 5th to 7th in Washington, DC
► Content Marketing World 2023 – September 26 – 28 in Washington, DC
► MarketingProfs B2B Forum – October 4 – 6 in Boston, MA
► Are you hosting an event that you’d like us to add to the Marketing Calendar? If so, let us know by using our Contact Form with the Subject Line: Event For AMG Newsletter Calendar.
Welcome New Subscribers!
If you enjoy reading the AMG Newsletter,
please forward it to your friends and colleagues.
And, please let me know what you’re doing for your Summer Vacation.
Happy Marketing,
Heidi
P.S.: Want Heidi Cohen to contribute a quote or other commentary to your next article, presentation, video, research, or book? Then hit reply to this email and ask.
P.P.S: Did you miss last week’s AMG Newsletter? Previous newsletters can be found in the AMG Newsletter Archive.
