I recently read an article about the importance of customizing and tweaking and it encouraged readers to think about marketing like following a recipe. We follow a recipe but we also have to customize it to meet our members' needs. Let's look at a recipe for Chicken Divan which I have used for many years and is my husband's favorite. Someone told me about the recipe and how wonderful it was. I was told I could follow the recipe exactly the way it was. But that was a false hope. I read the recipe and wanted to use turkey instead and the recipe called for broccoli but my husband hates broccoli but loves asparagus, so I customized the recipe to use asparagus. It also called for cheese but not enough cheese to our likening. I added more cheese. I cared for my husband and wanted to meet his needs.
So how does this apply to marketing? Has someone told you they have the answer to all of your marketing needs and you follow their advice and it doesn't work? Why? Because you also have to look at the needs of your members and have to change according to their needs. If you recommend broccoli for everyone, they won't buy in, because they hate broccoli. In marketing if someone recommends Facebook only and some of your members don't use Facebook, they won't buy in. If someone tells you to find all the answers on a chapter website but you have members who don't use websites, that is not going to be successful.
We have to first know our member's needs and we have to assess them to learn more about their preferences. We care about them and want to meet their needs. We listen to their likes and dislikes. How do they like to get information? Do they like to read online? Do they check out Facebook or a website every day? Do they prefer to read email. Do they prefer text? The key is that we have to care enough about our members and listen to their needs. Our customization may be that we provide diverse ways of marketing. One original recipe doesn't fit all.
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