This past week has been jam-packed for our team at Extend Your Reach – with education at Digital Summit Detroit, with planning our own communication plan for the next year, and with excitement about participating as a team in the Lake Michigan Credit Union Bridge Run this Sunday.

With all this in mind, we’re keeping Our Favorite Headlines brief this week. Check them out below!

The Takeaway: We’ll admit that we are guilty of marketing to prospects first, when the truth is that most businesses stand to experience more growth by focusing on the relationship they have with existing customers. And the kicker? Reaching existing customers is a whole heck of a lot easier, since you’re talking to people who already know and trust your brand. Think creatively about how you can engage the people with whom you have an established relationship – and don’t forget the most important strategy of all: delivering the experience you promise every step of the way.

The Takeaway: While we respectfully disagree that print catalogs have met their end, we’re fascinated by Facebook’s new ad format and what it says about the state of marketing. For one, the format draws on Facebook’s ability to target narrow groups based on their interests and personalize ads – as well as consumers’ increasing demand for ultra-personalized ad experiences. Second, the catalog-like features of the new ad format highlight the importance of storytelling in marketing. Whether you’re creating a Facebook ad, postcard, or email, it’s critical that you show (don’t just tell) your audience how your product or solution fits into their lives.

The Takeaway: Our favorite phrase in this brief overview of a McCann study is, by far, “people-based marketing.” After all, shouldn’t all marketing be people-based?

Age-based marketing may be appropriate in some cases, particularly when you look at specific seasons of life; however, over-generalizing by age puts marketers at risk of 1) sending the wrong message to their target audience and 2) missing their true target audience altogether. As the focus of many marketing teams shifts from marketing to Millennials to Gen Z, remember that the Millennial generation includes 90 million people ranging from ages 18-34. There isn’t a single message, platform, or marketing mix that will work for all of them. Instead, focus on understanding individual customers through behavioral data, which is easier than ever to collect.

What articles did you find particularly interesting or relevant? Let us know in the comments, or on Facebook or Twitter, or in the comments below.