Each Tuesday on LinkedIn, I post a new entry in my “This, not That” marketing series. They’re bite-size takes on bedrock marketing truths that even the best marketers sometimes lose site of.
As I reviewed the 2025 topics and planned for 2026, the theme that stood out to me most was the connection between you and your audience. Here are a few of the highlights, including topics focused on relevance in your marketing content. Talk about what your audience cares about and you’ll connect with them deeply enough to form a meaningful relationship.
Connection, not Reach
It’s never been easier to reach your target audience – and never been harder to connect with them.
The noise, the competition, the general cultural distrust of anything and anyone we don’t know personally. It all adds up to our prospects being further insulated from our message than they were by even the best human gatekeeper back in the day.
“Know, like, and trust” isn’t new, but it’s still true. Build your marketing around making yourself and your services familiar to your audience. The more they can relate, the better your chances are of breaking through and clutter and connecting meaningfully enough to win their trust and their business.
Their Business, not Yours
I am proud to announce that Andigo is now officially the world’s first and only fully drive-thru marketing agency!
OK, not really. But over the weekend I noticed how a local burger joint leans into their “fully drive-thru” status. That made me wonder why they think this is a feature passersby will find compelling.
Are they now measurably better than their competitors at doing drive-thru? Faster? More accurate? (AKA less likely to “F#$%” you at the drive-thru,” as Joe Pesci so memorably put it?)
Even if any of that was true, none of it is captured in a marketing message that simply says, “Fully drive-thru.”
Announcements about key hires or equipment upgrades can be an interesting way to give your audience a little insider info, but by themselves announcements aren’t marketing. Marketing, if it’s going to be successful over the long term, has to be about your prospect’s business, not your own.
Educate, Don’t Pitch
Think your prospects want you to pitch them? They do not.
That’s why most B2B buyers are two-thirds of the way through their buying process before they’ll invite you into the conversation.
Educate, enlighten, delight. If you provide enough value and actionable information, and do it in a way that demonstrates your value, they’ll let you know when they want to hear your pitch.
Engage Regularly, not Haphazardly
Inspiration is wonderful, but waiting for it to strike is NOT the path to successful marketing over time.
When it comes to content, put processes in place to ensure that you have gold to mine when you need it.
When it comes to prospects, work hard to stay on their radar by providing value, not harassment. (What’s really in it for them if you’re “just calling to check in?”)
Transformation, not Time and Tools
If your marketing focuses on the time you invest or the tools you use rather than the value you deliver, why would you expect a prospect to care?What they care about is making their business better. Demonstrate you can help them achieve transformation or risk being ignored.
Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash
