This post could have been about marketing your company at a conference, but I don’t know enough about that to be very credible.

Instead, the title is a metaphor for the feeling you get as an attendant at a conference, wondering the aisles is one of these larger than necessary conference venues, trying to avoid eye contact with the over-excited booth attendants who want to whisk you away and tell you why you need what they’re selling. That’s how a lot of consumers feel these days, like a sucker in the crowd with no escape from the constant barrage from marketers.

So how do you stand out?

Many people might argue that you act differently by using less pervasive channels, rising above the discount wars, and temper the frequency of your messaging. And they may be right, but that also might mean losing sales, which we don’t want.

You’d be surprised on how little changes can have a larger impact on your ability to stand out. What I recommend is, be smarter.

• Use data on consumers to only send them promotional messages that their interests and actions suggest that they’ll be interested in
  
  
• Spend time crafting better looking messages, easier to read headlines, and meaningful copy
  
  
• Ask for feedback constantly, and tell consumers how their feedback is changing the way you do things (people love to be heard)
  
  
• Make it easy for people to subscribe, unsubscribe, get updates, talk to support, try something for free

Those are just a few ideas for little changes you can make that will help your messages rise above your competition and resonate with consumers. Do you have any other ideas that should be added to the list? Please share them with us in the comments below (and maybe I’ll revise the original post to include the best ones).