Aaron Shapiro Focuses on ‘Users, Not Customers’

By Maryann Yin 

GalleyCat covered Book Expo America’s (BEA) 7x20x21 event, a series of presentations by seven industry professionals. Each participant had seven minutes to present, 20 slides to share, and 21 seconds to talk about each picture. The event was hosted by Ami Greko and Ryan Chapman.

The video embedded above features the speakers from 2009’s 7x20x21 event. All seven presenters focused on current issues affecting the industry from the future of libraries to the alarming results of a study conducted by VIDA.

Huge, Inc. partner Aaron Shapiro talked about how he conceived his book, Users, Not Customers. He theorized that successful companies focus more on Internet users and their digital footprints instead of directly targeting customers.

His talk seemed reminiscent of the marketing advice shared by author Jody Hedlund: “Start by loving the readers we already have (including followers on social media sites).” What do you think?