actionable marketing guide

Dear ,

Since Thanksgiving, pine trees have been appearing along the major shopping avenues in New York.

These holiday trees leave a wonderfully fresh scent even though they crowd the already busy sidewalks. Even better, their stately beauty stands out against the drab winter sky.

The big tree gracing Rockefeller Center was lit last week while others in smaller venues like Union and Madison Squares will take place this week.

Having grown up in a Jewish home without a Christmas tree, I love trimming other people’s trees. This year was no different when we joined neighbors to celebrate their first Christmas together. It was pure joy.

For me, these holiday trees symbolize life. It’s not just the solid wooden structure with its graceful green arms.

Rather it’s the communal history portrayed through ornaments and decoration collected over time. They’re collected over time from family and friends. Each is precious with a special meaning.

It’s the practice of carefully wrapping the holiday gems in tissue paper to save with its precious memories for the following year. In particular I love the ones created by small hands and painted Santa red and holly green.

From a marketing perspective, I’m not talking about how much you can get your potential customers to buy. Don’t worry—it’s holiday time and children and others still need presents to open.

But rather these holiday trees set an example for us. Like these beautifully dressed trees, our businesses need to be at the center of our community.  Instead of a collection or heartfelt decorations, we need customer stories.

While each story is precious and powerful on its own, what matters is how in aggregate they build a shared history and sense of community. Use this inspiration to encourage your customers, fans and employees to share their personal stories using words, photos and videos.

In turn these stories help you build and deepen your relationships with your customers to build something bigger, a community.

By doing this you embody Susan Saradon’s quote from the movie, Shall We Dance:

Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it.  Your life will not go unwitnessed because I will be your witness.”

Beyond our family and close friends we need community where we feel safe and cared for.

As the days get shorter and darker in the northern hemisphere during this holiday season, reach out to make at least one person’s day brighter.  For some people this season makes them feel very alone. Be the one to make them feel connected.

If you’d like to share your stories with me, I’d welcome reading them. Over the past year, some of you have responded to my newsletters. And each personal email has brightened my day.

Recently a man from Afghanistan included his photo. He was dressed in a beautiful blue and gold robe sitting in a field with bright red flowers. I was touched that he shared his world with me that was so different from mine.

Thank you for being part of my community.

Happy Marketing
Heidi.

Heidi Cohen
Actionable Marketing Guide

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• Heidi Cohen contributed her 2018 marketing predictions to BrandWatch's article: Marketing Trends for 2018.
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• Heidi is one of the first 20 people Springboard lists in its recent article: 108 digital marketing experts you should be following.
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• Christel van der Boom of Flipboard interviewed Heidi Cohen on The 5 Types of Interactive Marketing. Watch the video on YouTube. 

Photo Credits: 
Rockefeller Center Tree by Elias Andres-Jose via Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/2-0sbJvn8iE
Abdulmannan Barez – Photo used with permission.
Heidi Cohen on the Flipboard Red Couch – Photo used with permission