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I’ve been thinking a lot about marketing lately, and how it seems to be changing, some say due to the emergence of social media. And I constantly see and hear comments about how things are more "real" in social media--and I wonder why we all strayed so far from being real in the first place!

I think over the last few decades, corporations, followed by associations, seem to have decided that they must appear perfect in the eyes of their customers or potential clients. This makes sense in a competitive world. But man it’s a pain, takes a ton of time, and might be counter-productive in many ways, including:

1) Customer expectations: If we pretend that we’re perfect, then we are giving our customers permission to expect more of us than is possible with the time, resources, and people available to us.

2) Handling mistakes: When we drive our employees to be perfect, we focus more on their mistakes, and how embarrassing they are to us as managers or as an association, instead of seeing what a huge opportunity for growth and real connection they can be.

3) Time: It takes a ton of time to be perfect! I realize that having mistakes in printed materials, for example, is not good; but I’ve witnessed many times companies throwing complete hissy fits when there is one spelling error; sure you printed 5000 brochures and the word ‘product’ is spelled wrong, but if your value proposition is weak enough to be completely destroyed by a spelling error, you need to go back to the drawing board!

4) Sales: God, if I go to one more trade show, and talk to someone in a booth who acts like they are trying to sell me a car, I will pull my hair out. Selling is about relating to people, not acting like someone you aren’t. People can sniff a fake from 100 miles away, and they know a fake smile from a real one.

I’m not advocating that we just shoot from the hip all the time, or that high expectations aren’t a necessity ... but let’s face it, many audiences now expect perfection, and we are hamsters on the wheel trying to attain it. I’m just saying, take it in stride, and use all of the resources available to you, including mistakes, bad decisions, fears, and flaws, to illustrate what you really represent in your work each day.

So to me, this is a real chance to get real. I love it when I make mistakes. I have many flaws. I point them out to members and prospects, and make fun of myself ... which is much more human than being perfect!