I attended the Coldplay concert last night at the Boston Garden. Throughout the entire show, my focus was on the band, getting into the show and enjoying every moment. The garden was sold out and the crowd responded to the band’s cues. I also attended several U2 concerts during their Vertigo tour and I had the same enjoyment, getting into the music, singing along with the crowd and taking part in the entire experience.

I’m sure you are trying to figure out how this relates to marketing your business.

On my way home, I realized that both Coldplay and U2 share something in common – they put themselves as close to their audience as they safely can. They figure out what drives their fans and keeps them coming back for more. Other rock bands separate themselves up on stage, putting a wall up between them and their audience.

But both U2 and Coldplay are skilled at playing to the crowd. U2 has the catwalk that enables the members to come right out into the audience while staying visible to everyone in the arena. Coldplay extended the stage on either end, allowing them to come out towards the audience and get closer to them as well. In addition, Coldplay came up into the audience on a small stage and sang two songs in the crowd, sharing themselves with everyone.

As business owners, we should take a lesson from U2 and Coldplay and build that “fan” relationship with your customers, prospects and aquaintances. Figure out how to get close to them so you can figure out what drives their business and how you can help them achieve their goals or minimize their challenges. Listen to them when they talk, give them what they want and they will be fans of yours for a long time.

U2 photo credit  Phil Romans.

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Lessons from a Rock Concert is an original post from Debra Murphy, Small Business Marketing Coach: Masterful Marketing - Marketing in the New Media World. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Debra on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.