Reading Time: 3 minutesAs the London 2012 Olympic Games draw near, we are starting to see glimpses of the athletes, the competing sports and finally more on London than just The Royal Family. The closer these games get the more interested we become. We don’t have to be asked twice to cheer on and support our American athletes.
There are lessons to be learned here for all of us. Even marketing lessons. So what exactly can marketers take away from the spirit of these games? Let’s look at the top 5:
1) A great story sets you apart. Each athlete has his or her own unique story. It entails a background with family, or no family, education or lack thereof, moral and possibly religious upbringing or the absence of, and a lot of physical training and practice. Some stories include hardships and physical ailments that were hard roads to overcome. Many of these stories make us cry because they connect with us on a personal level.
Your business has its own story as well. Maybe it’s the underdog story of starting with nothing and building an empire. Maybe your brick and mortar burnt down twice but you kept rebuilding and going at it again. Maybe your CEO was on death’s bed and now runs marathons. Whatever your story is, tell it well and make it personal.
2) Details matter. Some details can make or break an athlete. Taking in too many or not enough calories has been proven to affect performance. Even removal of body hair has been proven to help certain athletes with speed and velocity. Not following the exact details of a strict regimen can take peak performance down to just an average one.
Details in your business matter. What you do or don’t offer your customers, your customer service level, your business ethics, whether you’ll go the extra mile (pun intended), your honesty and integrity, your return policy, how you handle customer complaints and bad reviews, all the way down to your accounting and internal human resources make a huge impact on the success or failure of your business. It’s the little details that make up the big picture.
3) Authenticity is transparent. If you don’t believe that just ask Michael Phelps. A record breaking Olympic athlete with many medals, most of them gold, who turned out to not be not what he presented himself as sadden the world when his secret drug life was exposed. It just didn’t take much to expose and bring that bring that secret to light.
Remember the world we live in. Social media and big brother is everywhere. There is just not much you can do in secret. Not for long anyway. If you are authentically open and honest and have nothing to hide then you have no worries. If however you are engaging in shady business deals or producing poor products, it’s just a matter of time before your true authentic business ways are exposed. Run your business with integrity or don’t run it at all.
4) It’s a small world after all. Whether Athens, Beijing or now London, the world’s eye is always on the Olympic Games. It doesn’t matter where in the world you are or where the Olympic Games are hosted, you can watch live and follow the individual stories.
The same is true for your business. No matter where in the world your business is, you have direct access to your target audience, and they to you, through the world of social media marketing. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest and the like make it possible to connect to anyone in the world in real time, at any time.
5) What matters most is right now. No matter the sport, every Olympic athlete competes and concentrates on the moment at hand, one moment at a time. Fierce and intense concentration is on the present moment of the performance and making it the best possible. It sets the stage for the next moment and successfully threads them all together.
Each moment in your business’ evolution needs and deserves the same intense focus and respect. The decisions you make and acts you labor today will have a direct impact on your business tomorrow. The same can be said for this morning in relation to this afternoon and this minute in relation to this hour.
The key is staying focused on your future goal and what will get you there. Ask any Olympic athlete where their mind stays and their actions follow and their answer will always be the same: To win the gold.
Let us help tell your story: Social Media Marketing from Vizion Interactive
