My bad if I got a little too emo in my last message, the past 6 months has been a doozy but it sure taught me a lot.
For instance, you ever heard the phrase…
“I like your energy!”
Not to brag but people tell me this a lot, to the point where I started worrying I had some stinky aura around me or something 😅 but the more I asked people to elaborate, they’d say things like I’m approachable or non-judgmental and that makes me easy to talk to.
Now I realize how great of a compliment that phrase is!
I’m grateful I can present an environment where people trust me and feel comfortable enough to show me different sides of themselves. It might even be one of my super powers.
People forget there’s more to community than their analytics can tell them. What’s even more valuable than clicks or downloads is relationships and giving people room to play.
When we find a zone of play we feel at ease, unjudged and energized.
When we play we are free to dream and connect to a world that's unlike our own which makes us open to connection.
Play builds trust stronger and faster
than environments without it.
And sadly most B2B marketing is the opposite of play, feeling judgy
“NEED HELP?” 😒
unwelcome
“BUY NOW!” 👿
and boring
“DOWNLOAD OUR EBOOK.” 🥱
but it doesn’t have to be this way.
People are multi dimensional, and basing your marketing assumptions on product data alone isn’t giving you the 360 image of that person.
These days everyone’s got good data, now you have to get good at relationships.
B2B needs a playground
With a slide, monkey bars, swings, and maybe even a seesaw.
Not everyone plays the same way and creating different zones of play for your audience will reveal more about their habits and desires than any optional survey ever could. The way I think about it…
🧗 Slide (reward for perseverance/challenge)
Take a slide for example, people enjoy the challenge of climbing to the tallest part of the playground to get to the top of the slide and soak in the view. Some of those weirdos may also like walking up the slide the wrong way for the extra challenge.
(It’s me, I’m one of those weirdos)
With a slide the connection is bonded over a shared victory, we made it to the top! The motivations are to persevere to the reward, which on the B2B playground could be allowing highly active users into a private beta for new software features.
Sure they’ll squash some bugs on the way up the slide but the view from the top and the ride coming down is what makes it all worth it. Just make sure the ride is worth the climb.
🙊 Monkey Bars (builds confidence)
Next you have the monkey bars that teach self-assurance, one hand always grabbing forward even when your arms start to get tired toward the end.
In this play zone the connection is bonded over building shared confidence, we’ve got this! The motivation is to feel like an expert and on the B2B playground this could look like holding events led by power users of your product.
The best part of this is the FOMO (fear of missing out). Even just watching someone master the monkey bars gives you that energetic feeling of “I could do that.” Next thing you know there’s a line for the monkey bars.
🎢 Swings (solo or shared thrill)
Then you have your adrenaline junkies on the swings. Swings are a solo or shared thrill loved by kids and adults alike because there’s very few feelings that give the exhilaration of flying through the air like a bird without wings.
It feels extraordinary.
When your connection is bonded over a shared thrill done together or separate like:
“Hey we both like skydiving!”
or
“Hey we both like this niche brand of cat litter!”
you’ve already built a positive memory with them based on their experiences not with you, but with the shared interest. Having something in common gives you a leg up on the way to building a memorable relationship!
On the B2B playground this could be playing off of pop culture to show you enjoy the same things as your audience but be weary of nostalgia baiting, it’s hollow and can even do more harm than good if not done thoughtfully.
Instead focus on super niche topics within your community, TikTok is scary good at surfacing these patterns if you don’t know where to start. I swear TikTok has taught me more about my own psyche than some therapy sessions.
⚖️ Seesaw (multiplayer/collaboration)
Finally we have the seesaw which is really only fun when everyone is playing together.
Ever tried to seesaw alone? It’s pretty lame.
When your connection is bonded over a shared activity rather than a value, you could end up sitting on the ground with no one to play with. However, if you’ve got the right play group together who already share similar values the seesaw can be a really fun time!
In B2B webinars continue to fall into and out of fashion but I don’t think its the medium’s fault, it’s how we use that medium to connect with people.
The best virtual events I’ve been to had small attendance lists and a collaborative element to them that allowed me not only to attend, but feel heard and actually find connections that last after the event.
If marketers focused on facilitating these events more than just filling seats and collecting emails webinars would be much less of a flophouse IMO.
🤔 Play > Resonate > Memory > Connection
So what do you think?
I have a feeling that that “play” is just the first step to building a memorable relationship whether you’re a person, a product, a brand, a potato…
Okay maybe not a potato, but… then again there is Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head so I take that back!
My point is that “play” opens the door to meaningful connections, paving the way for resonating and forming lasting core memories.
In the past 6 months, I've emphasized how these core memories fuel memorable relationships, powering the word-of-mouth engine that that sets people, brands, products (and potatoes) apart from the sea of sameness.
People trust people, not logos.
Now I’ll think more on how all this connects but it feels like we’re on to something here.
I’ll let you go now but before I do I wanted to say thanks for taking my calls these last 12 months.
It means a lot to hear from you, really more than you know.
Okay for realz letting you go now, hope to hear from you soon.
Byeee!
Can you play? | Sorry I Missed You (14)