"We Do Fundraising and Friendraising" - A Lesson From the Non-Profit Sector for Marketers - Irv Brechner

The other day I overheard a conversation between my wife who heads up fundraising efforts at a regional medical center and a potential donor What captured my attention was the phrase she used to summarize her philosophyIt39s a pretty nifty unique selling proposition and the more I thought about it the more I realized it can apply to us capitalists selling products and servicesquotWe do fundraising and friendraisingquot pretty much says it all and it presents both opportunities equally and succinctly People she talks with can either give money or become friends of the hospital and see where that goes Two good choices ideal for someone ready to give or someone ready to learn moreSeems like there39s a great parallel for marketers as we head into 2012 How about quotWe do selling and friendingquot Isn39t that exactly what we39ve been doing for decades selling stuff to those ready to buy and providing more information for those who are researchingIsn39t quotfriendingquot the same as lead generation Aren39t people friending companies on Facebook and other sites Aren39t they raising their collective hands and asking for more information Yes to allIt used to be that lead generation was pretty straightforward You send out emails direct mail pieces and catalogs when consumers asked for more info You made outbound phone calls to close sales That39s all about lead generation wasBut today there39s a whole new way to take friending to the next level Companies are discovering new ways to have consumers become their friends to like them and to connect with them You have an endless stream of opportunities to interact with future and current customersNone of this is news but it is profound Marketers who are spending most of their time and resources on selling need to accomplish the followingamp183 Figure out the best friending strategy that fits with their selling tacticsamp183 Find new money for friending that doesn39t take away dollars from tactics that are productive such as DRTV or searchamp183 Locate the combination of inhouse and agency talent that has both selling and friending experienceIs quotfriendingquot the new lead generation on steroids You bet it isGrab a PDF of this article httpA99acquirgynetIrv Brechner has written over 100 published direct marketing articles and 13 books on a variety of topics He39s been a pioneer in online customer acquisition since 1996 and offline for his 35year career He has developed Acquirgycom39s quotCustomer Acquisition Intel Centerquot acquirgycomintel he evangelizes bestofbreed tactics to help companies acquire customers in the digital age He can be reached at irvacquirgycom Read all Irv39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Customer Acquisition IntelCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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"We Do Fundraising and Friendraising" - A Lesson From the Non-Profit Sector for Marketers - Irv Brechner

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