If you’re like me, you were born before personal computers were introduced in the 1970s. If so, you and I are digital immigrants–people who grew up without digital technology and adopted it later.
I met Steve Stagnaro in the 1970s. I won’t give the exact year, so he and I can lie about how young we are. But, in those days–before there were personal computers or cell phones or videocassette recorders–we embarked on career paths and arrived at marketing as our chosen profession.
The oh wow moment is here, my friends: You can succeed in marketing in today’s digital age at any age.
How few or how many birthdays you have celebrated in your life doesn’t really matter. Here’s the secret to succeeding in today’s marketing: Learn the best practices of using personal computers, the Internet, hand-held digital devices, and social media channels to add to what you already know about how to connect with people one-to-one.
All of us online today are literally at a distance from other people. I am typing these words on a computer near Washington, DC. Yet, you can be reading this text on your cell phone while driving on the freeway in San Jose–not one of those best practices that I mentioned.
Web sites and social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Yammer–and all the rest with other funny names–are capable of enabling us to connect to people, one-to-one. The trick is to learn how to use this available technology we have today without separating ourselves from others by staying behind glass touchscreens.
I am pleased that Steve Stagnaro listened to my advice that he should embrace social media for marketing. Now, we all can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. Now, you can turn to him for hands-on lessons learned. Now, you, too, can embrace this digital technology for connecting one-to-one with people in your marketing efforts.
