The best marketing tactics I know of are 1. earning attention instead of buying it and 2. making stuff for your fans rather than finding fans for your stuff. Those tactics work even better when built on top of a movement. When the attention being earned is from people who identify themselves as part of that movement and want to be connected to other like-minded people. Then the brand works to become the connecting point.

My favorite part of this strategy is that it fits online perfectly, cost little and size of the business doesn’t matter.

Earning attention is about thinking of yourself as a publisher of helpful content related to a movement that people want rather than a marketer who is trying to interrupt. This content is then spread (if its good) throughout the group that identifies themselves as part of the movement and invites them to come back and sign up. Then the brand has the ability of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to the people who want to get them. Repeat.

I’m going to write more about the different tactics of this strategy in upcoming posts so stay tuned.