I received an email today from the CEO of a large networking organisation. The well crafted message pointed out he had noticed that I hadn’t registered for their latest event and offered me a discount. At the end of the email he politely invited me to connect on LinkedIn.
One small flaw in this carefully crafted piece of relationship marketing. The event is in Chicago. I live in Melbourne, Australia. I have never heard of the CEO, his organisation and I’ve never given them my email.
A piece of lovely copywriting goes to waste because its premise defeats it. The CEO wanted to convey he had considered me specifically. He wanted to build a relationship so that he can sell me services and events. However, because they bought a dodgy email list and didn’t do any research into the list all that work is an evident waste.
You can’t fake a relationship. You can’t turn a transaction into a relationship by declaring it one or by good intentions. Relationships take work. A relationship is not about what you want. Copywriting won’t save you from your lack of interest in your customers & prospects. The transparency of the global economy makes old marketing methods more dangerous than ever.
If you want a relationship, build one for both parties. If you run a networking organisation, start with relationships, not unsubscribe marketing.
Whatever you do, if you don’t want to put in the effort in a relationship, don’t pretend.
