A bigger magnet isn’t enough

Personally, I love the imagery of inbound as a magnetic force attracting things towards it.

It’s simple and effective.

Here’s my unpopular opinion as a marketer: Though the imagery might be effective, the motion isn’t anymore.

Logan Lyles made a point I love:

When you zoom out a little, you’re not just looking at your company and your magnet. Your prospect is being surrounded by so much information and so many brands that all have their own magnets. What’s not reflected here is some companies have bigger magnets and so what are we as marketers to do? Well, we can try and build a bigger magnet.

Marketing legends Al Reis and Jack Trout always said you want to be “different, not better.”

When you compete to be better or, in this case, bigger, it’s a losing game. There will always be a company that’s bigger than you.

Someone who has a bigger budget, a bigger team, a bigger social media presence, and on and on.

Surround doesn’t compete on better. It doesn’t have to.

Permissionless co-marketing 

I’ve been talking a lot lately about "permissionless co-marketing" — showing love and giving shout-outs to win over people and companies that surround your buyer without even asking them first.

It’s a great way to break free of the need to have formal partnerships and a great way to get formal partnerships going (who wouldn’t want to talk more to someone who’s already giving them free publicity?)

Lo and behold, I did not make this idea up.

Asher Matthew from Partnership Leaders recently sent me this great article by Amanda Natividad at SparkToro about this very concept written over a year ago.

It’s worth a read!

Turns out Gen Z wants Nearbound Surround

Like it or not, Gen Z’s buyer preferences are defining this decade, and it turns out Gen Z actually wants to be surrounded.

VoxBurner outlined Gen Z marketing trends, one of which was:

87% of Gen Z desire multi-channel brand experiences, it’s a must for marketers to reach this demographic at different touch points.

In line with Jay McBain’s 28 moments, it looks like not only does Gen Z have 28 touchpoints from the time they encounter a problem to when they buy, but they actually want those touchpoints.

If you’re a marketer leaning into the decade of Nearbound, make sure you pay attention to this: Buyers want to be won over in numerous ways. They actually want to be surrounded by voices they feel like they can trust.

Stuff you don’t want to miss!

• TODAY — September 13, 2 PM EST — Successful Tactics for Product Partnerships —Join Patrick Hu, Head of Product Partnerships at Amazon (New Initiative) and Scott Pollack (CEO at Firneo) as they tackle what it means to develop successful product partnerships today. Register here.
• Apply by September 22nd for Firneo’s Certified 8-WeekCohort — Learn the frameworks and tactics to excel in every facet of your partnerships role. Apply here.
• September 28, 12 PM EST - Game Changers: Isaac Morehouse — Isaac will join Oana Manolache to talk about how to use content creation to define a category. He’ll share the 3 elements to help you build brand awareness, drive pipeline, and unite your team. Register here.

Help a marketer out!

Tons of marketers have never heard of Nearbound marketing. They’re struggling to hit their numbers, but they don’t know why. Send them this NbD and help them out!