Who Do You Impact?

Today's Marketing Cookie is a reminder that we are giants in a very small world. While companies may never know who they influence through their marketing efforts, I prefer to talk today about personal branding. Who do you know? Do you know who knows you? Social media provides the answer for us. People from your childhood, high school, and college are finding you. Some of them are people you haven't thought about for decades, and now they are reconnected with you, which is weird because they are mixed in with the friends and contacts you are making today.

Many times, I will have a meeting with a prospect, and when I look them up on LinkedIn later, I discover that we're already connected, or we've been following each other on Twitter. My personal participation in social media has helped me "meet" many new people. Many of them, I've never actually met in person. Of course, I've also reconnected with people whom I have met and worked with in the past, which locks them into my concentric circle of contacts. If every person I interact with in a meaningful way connects with me on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, my world continues to get smaller every day.

So then, an important question arises: What positive impact can I have with whom I am connected?

Think about it. As your connections increase, and your world keeps shrinking, there's a greater chance that your reputation will precede you into your next meeting. You are more Googleable than ever before and you probably already know someone in common with someone you don't know. What impact have you had on them? What would they say about you?

During recess in the 3rd grade, I got beat up by a kid in the schoolyard. Since that was the only physical fight I have ever experienced in my life, I never forgot it. About 25 years later when I was the president of the AMA, we launched a terrific social networking site to connect marketers throughout Boston. Wouldn't you know it, one day I was reviewing all of the people who had applied to join our site, and there he was! Seeing his name brought back all kinds of emotion. Should I approve his application?

I decided to send him a little note, "I was planning to approve your application but unfortunately, we don't allow schoolyard bullies into the AMA. :)"

SPECIAL NOTE: You can be direct with people and avoid an ugly confrontation when your message also includes with a smiley face.

He responded and explained, "I was a punk back then, but am a changed man and am very different now"—all of which was strangely satisfying to hear. It sort of felt like justice had been served. Anyway, I promptly accepted his application and all was forgiven.

Will something from the 3rd grade come back to haunt you? Probably not. However, it's crucial for us as marketing professionals to remember that every piece of content we create, every campaign we launch, and every interaction we have can leave a lasting impression. In the interconnected world of social media and digital marketing, our actions ripple out farther than we can see. What we share and how we engage with our audience today shapes the perception of our brands tomorrow. Let's strive to make sure that impact is positive, fostering trust and building lasting relationships with our audience.