MainWP Summer Ruminations for 2024 

Something happened this week here in the United States. Something so crazy that it changes everything. 

The earth tilted on its axis and pointed towards the Sun. It takes just 23.5 degrees of a tilt for it to become Summer in our hemisphere, and that changes the temperatures. 

Drastically. 

And the effect can be extreme. I know, for me, I felt more lethargic this week as the Summer began in our part of the world. 

What season is it in your part of the world?

So, as we are sliding into this change, here are a few ruminations I have for the Summer of 2024.

Join us for Office Hours with Marc.

Every Tuesday, we join Marc for office hours in the Discord community. 

Attend the MainWP Office Hours.

Every Tuesday during the summer months, join us for Office Hours with Marc Benzakein, the MainWP Marketing Manager.

Each office hour, he goes over a specific feature of MainWP and answers questions. 

It’s a great opportunity to learn more about MainWP. It takes place at noon Eastern Time, 11 am Central Standard Time.

If you can’t make it, the Office Hours is uploaded to the MainWP YouTube channel.

See the latest Office Hours below.

I am a big fan of office hours type events for products because it is a great over the shoulder look at various features and how to do specific tasks. 

How can we create a better customer experience for our customers?

In December 2022, Mark Schaefer published a book called “Belonging to the Brand: Why Community is the Last Great Marketing Strategy .”

See the book here.

Marketing, like SEO, is in flux. What is happening in 2024? What will happen in 2025? What will happen in 2030?

By the way, Mark Schaefer seems to understand the future of marketing better than anyone I have seen.

Lately, I am seeing a lot of emphasis on LinkedIn for building community. Now, this emphasis on community building is primarily for B2B marketing. 

I’m excited about this emphasis, but my friend, B2C marketing has done it for decades.

Perhaps, the better emphasis should be on customer experience. And, thus, I think, “how can we create a better experience for our Site Care Customers?”

I can’t say that I have the answer, but if I ever figure it out, I’ll let you know.

The problem I see with B2B marketing talking about community is I feel they will try to manufacture community. You just can’t do that.

In fact, I would argue that community is born out of the experience. 

Why does customer experience matter so much? Well, building a brand is about being memorable. A great customer experience will help your customers remember you. 

Customer experience is exactly what Taylor Swift, the mega star musician, does.

Brittany Hodak evaluates how she did this on her Eras Tour. Read her article here.

Community happens organically. You often see it in sports: Cricket, Soccer, Football, Baseball, and yes, professional wrestling.

When the experience is top level, the community is created, often organically.

Returning to the fundamentals of marketing

As I said before, marketing is in flux, especially in the digital marketing world. The Algorithms have taken full control, and it is harder than it once was to be successful.

That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, it’s just harder and more expensive. 

Should we return to the fundamentals of marketing? I admit, I never took a marketing class in college, but it might be time to re-familiar ourselves with the idea of building a brand.

A marketer I follow on LinkedIn has presented this to me and even reminded me of the 4 Ps of marketing. 

You know the 4 Ps of marketing, but sometimes we forget them in this world of digital marketing.

The 4 Ps include: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Learn more about the 4 Ps in this article.

I am convinced these fundamentals haven’t changed, even in the world of paid clicks, Google, SEO, social media, and other modern digital methods of marketing.

So, I am ruminating on the 4 Ps and how they look in 2024. I am also thinking about how I can build a brand to help me combat the enemy that is the Algo-gods.

Wrapping it up

It’s summer where I am and it has me ruminating on some important issues. What are you thinking about right now? What is on your mind?

Let me know in #effective-writing MainWP Discord channel.

Visit the MainWP Discord