What Springsteen taught me about Marketing

I saw Bruce Springsteen for the fist time in 1973 at DAR Constitution Hall with my brother, Jeff. It was a revelation. He was so dynamic and the crowd was so enthusiastic. I was hooked right from the start and have been a fan ever since. Bruce has an amazing gift for songwriting, singing and performing. I have seen him many times. I don’t care for the arena concerts. My favorite venues are smaller like The Birchmere and The Ram’s Head Tavern. The 930 Club is also exceptional. Most all other venues to me are just too big and impersonal. And I feel no need to be somewhere just to be able to say I was there.

But Bruce is different. He can actually rock 20,000 people. He has a gift for not only writing great songs but he is an amazing performer. But what does that teach someone like me about Marketing? Well, I just saw Bruce a few months ago. My buddies, Merrill Cohen and Steve Greenfeld, had an extra ticket to see him at the Verizon Center. I went. And this time I really tried to figure out what it was about Bruce Springsteen that makes him such an amazing performer. He played his songs exactly how he recorded them. And he has a great, tight and very talented band. But there are lots of bands that do that. He played all of Born To Run. That certainly pleased the crowd.

But there is something really special about the way Bruce performs and I think I figured it out and I think it also helped me understand how his work fits into the new Inbound Marketing techniques that I am working on and teaching.

Bruce not on only performs. He engages. He doesn’t just deliver a great rendition of a great song with a great band. He engages an audience in a way that is really unique. He looks at them. He REALLY looks at them. He smiles. He smiles a lot. He let’s them play his instruments. He pulls them on stage to dance and to sing along. He body surfs out to a second stage. All along he is really singing to the crowd. And, I think this sums it up, nobody enjoys a Bruce Springsteen concert more than Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce performs. Just like any other band. And just like your business and your competitors. You can perform. And you have lots of competitors that are also very competent and able that can also perform. But unless you also engage your clients and your community, you will not grab onto them and hold them.

Good Internet Marketing requires you to create a great website that not only tells your visitor how you will perform but it also needs to engage them in a way that is helpful and interesting. Creating unique, original content on your website is how you engage your community and contribute to it by offering insights and fresh ideas.

Thank you, Bruce, for helping me understand what it takes to get visitors on my website and to convert them into clients.

You rock.