Digital willpower
Willpower is the ability to keep a focus on what is best for you (broccoli) in the face of what you want (cake).
In the digital world the cost of communicating with clients approximates to zero, so the temptation is to bombard them with your sales messages (Click here to buy one). Or at least make every communication one that takes the suspect / prospect closer towards the rim of your sales funnel.
Given that most people are now exploiting digital technology in this manner, most recipients have developed a refined sense of who is abusing their trust. And once that trust is lost, it is difficult to regain it.
So in the digital world willpower is required to hold back the urge to push your agenda. Instead we need to communicate in a manner that is centred on the interests of the recipient. This necessitates abandoning traditional clumsy mass marketing techniques.
So ironically in the digital world it is more necessary than ever to adopt the personalised approach used in bygone times. Who knows, it may not be long before we even start to use digital ink to handwrite our letters.