00:00There's a reason a lot of people go out of business,
00:02and it is almost always directly correlated
00:06to them missing the mark
00:07on the customers they're trying to reach.
00:11Most companies, big or small,
00:13are really struggling in assumptions
00:16or yesterday tactics to reach customers.
00:20I believe that there is not enough emphasis
00:24put on the actual consumer.
00:27Caring, when it comes to marketing,
00:30is respecting one's time.
00:32I think we don't respect consumers' time.
00:36And if we're gonna fill them with messages,
00:38wouldn't it be nice for them to enjoy it?
00:42When you come from a lens of caring and empathy,
00:44you just tend to make better advertising.
00:47You tend to make better advertising.
00:49I'm Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia,
00:53and my latest book is
01:04I view myself as an entrepreneur.
01:05I grew up in my dad's liquor store
01:07and innovated by having one of the first e-commerce websites.
01:10I was an early investor in Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr,
01:14and in more recent years have been an author and a speaker,
01:17but also running a 2,000-person-plus
01:19global advertising agency.
01:21And at the end of the day,
01:23I could not explain to all of you watching
01:25or listening more how many marketing ideas
01:29literally spend no time on,
01:31will the person on the other side like this?
01:35It's just, this is the way it's always been done,
01:37or how many do we have to sell?
01:39Sell, sell, sell.
01:41But I did not buy this sneaker
01:44because somebody knocked on my door and sold it to me,
01:47or I landed on a website that explained
01:49why I had to own this.
01:51The Super Bowl, I would say,
01:52is a place where we do a better job caring.
01:54We try to actually make that 30-second video entertaining.
01:58I think I see it every day in social media.
01:59I see young brands actually make content
02:02that people want to watch.
02:03When your lens is caring and empathy
02:06to connect with a consumer,
02:07you're actually thinking about them.
02:09Will the person on the other side like this?
02:12For me, that's the million-dollar question.
02:15So, do you have strategies
02:18for how to connect with your audience?
02:24I would say my number one strategy
02:26is something I've done my whole life,
02:27which is, before I start talking, I listen.
02:31Literally, your biggest advantage is time.
02:35Don't buy into an antiquated process.
02:37You're entering the greatest five-year window of your life.
02:41And, you know, obviously, it seems like I'm always talking,
02:43but almost everything that comes out of my mouth
02:45has been predicated on me doing a lot of hours of listening.
02:49Social media's greatest power
02:50is the ability to see what people are thinking.
02:52We're living in the golden era of consumer insights
02:56because of social media.
02:57And I think the best businesses in the world
02:59are fixing something that everyone's complaining about,
03:02but hasn't been fixed yet.
03:04Here's a good example.
03:05Drive-through fast food.
03:08People value time.
03:10And, obviously, someone eventually said,
03:13you know what?
03:14Instead of making them park and walk in
03:16and wait in line and get their burger and fries,
03:19why don't we just let them drive through?
03:22That was a very strong innovation, a good idea.
03:26This is one big game of listening.
03:28Historically, this is what you do through focus groups.
03:31This is what you now can do
03:32through social listening at scale.
03:34The question is, what do you then do about it?
03:37The last 10 years of storytelling
03:39has evolved tremendously.
03:40We are no longer in tribes,
03:42sitting around a fire, telling a story.
03:45News cycles are now 12 and 24 hours,
03:48not 12 and 24 days.
03:50So the speed of keeping attention
03:53has changed dramatically.
03:55Also, the ability to storytell has exploded.
03:59You don't need an editor-in-chief.
04:01You don't need the local newspaper.
04:03You don't need someone at the TV network
04:05saying that you're allowed to be on camera
04:07and talk to the world.
04:08That's gone.
04:09There's not a person watching this
04:10who doesn't have permission now
04:12to tell the world their story as a human
04:15or their story about the business or organization,
04:18nonprofit, or whatever other body they're working with
04:22to the world.
04:23On the flip side, it's never been harder.
04:25What pictures, what videos, what animated GIFs,
04:29what copy, what time do you post,
04:31how long is the video, audio, video,
04:34how long is the video, audio, lighting?
04:36I mean, this has become a profoundly complex game.
04:39Here's the good news for everyone who's scared
04:41by how hard and fast it is.
04:43A great story will still find its way.
04:46Even if you don't know the best practices
04:48of how to post on YouTube or Instagram or TikTok,
04:51you will be stunned how much a story can find its audience
04:55if it's just told from the heart in a pure form.
04:59When I talk about patience,
05:01it drives ambitious people crazy.
05:04I have a lot of high energy, in your face,
05:08loud, New Jersey style.
05:10And when I throw out patience, like, wait a minute,
05:13you're going off cue.
05:14Like, this doesn't sound like you, Gary.
05:15And I'm like, that's because you don't realize
05:18that patience is not complacency.
05:20Patience is probably one of the most important
05:23things in life.
05:24It's the most important thing.
05:26Patience is probably one of the most important ingredients
05:29in building something meaningful.
05:31One of the reasons most people don't have patience
05:34is because of fear.
05:36They fear failing, and so they try to go fast
05:39because if it's not going well,
05:41they can't deal with the music,
05:43AKA the judgment of the people around them.
05:46If patience is not one of your partners, you're dead.
05:49You're too short term,
05:50you're gonna deviate from the plan,
05:52and you're probably gonna make a misstep.
05:55I always hear people say,
05:56well, okay, Gary, I'm into patience,
05:57I'm building something meaningful and brand,
05:58like, how do I know it's working?
06:00And look, I think the answer is results.
06:03When I was building my father's wine business,
06:06the way I was noticing if we were building brand
06:09was based on the fact that I had to spend less money
06:12on advertising every year,
06:14but was achieving higher sales every year
06:16because after five or six years of good work,
06:19I could see that the word of mouth and the reputation,
06:21the brand, was carrying the business.
06:24And so, you know, I think at the end of the day,
06:26you have to measure brand based on business results,
06:28but you've gotta play that out for a long time
06:31because when you start thinking 100 year terms
06:33versus 100 day terms,
06:35you're playing a totally different game.
06:37When you think long,
06:39and when you think about leaving a legacy,
06:41you tend to ironically make more money
06:43because you're building a stronger foundation.
06:47I ask you to take this video, this energy,
06:50and deploy it to not just your content
06:52or your marketing strategies
06:54or even your business.
06:55Deploy it to your life.
06:57It will help you be a better father, mother,
06:59sister, brother, child, human,
07:02to make the future more joyous and impactful.
07:06To learn even more from the world's biggest thinkers,
07:09get Big Think Plus for your business.
07:11Get Big Think Plus for your business.
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