It's funny what comes up if you google ‘marketing'.
I was searching for an image to use and this came up.
Now, I’m actually going to shout (apologies).
I HATE THIS…
and I hate everything it portrays about marketing.
Marketing is not:
- shouting at people through a megaphone (or other platform) about yourself, your business or your services/products
- trying to attract people who are not interested in, or do not need your service or product
- constantly telling people how awesome your service/product is
- manipulating people into buying your services or product.
There are so many things wrong with thinking this is all there is.
So, let's flip it.
What is marketing?
For a start it's more than promotion, which is what those four points about might be considered.
You may have heard of the marketing P's. They started off as 4 and evolved to 7.
They include but are not limited to:
- Product
- Price
- Promotion
- Place
- People
- Process
- Physical Evidence
Now, I know the 7Ps is a term that's often tossed around in academic and big business circles. But here's the thing – it's actually super relevant for small business owners too.
Trust me, the simplicity of these 7 marketing Ps might just blow your mind. You can find out why and read more here.
However, in a nutshell, the important thing to note that marketing is more than promotion. Which is why I get very upset when I see images like this
or this
So, let's talk about Promotion
One of my favourite inspirational people is Seth Godin.
He, among other things, is a marketer extraordinaire, and he says
“Marketing doesn’t have to suck… marketing that’s consensual, useful and effective, is possible… ”
I totally agree and to paraphrase Seth…
The promotional marketing should:
- start with understanding
- why people want your services/products
- why you want to provide those services/products to them
- then connect with those people who need your service or product in a way that they want (consensual)
- to provide valuable information that people want (useful)
- where and when they want to here/see/engage with you
Then, and only then, will your promotional marketing deliver positive outcomes for everyone (effective).
And when all this comes together marketing is fun and it doesn’t suck!
If you need help making sure your marketing doesn’t suck feel free to reach out – I’d love to help you
