What is Marketing to you?

As a small business owner, I am sure you have already looked into and learned what marketing is, yet with so many negative perceptions around the idea of what marketing is, I have to wonder what it is that people are teaching.

If you’d like to see but a small yet humorous reflection of the negative connotations around marketing, see Dilberts take – it’s hilarious, all while being a little true and sad at the same time.

We all know at heart that marketing is a host of activities that will help bring in customers and sales, yet so many people do a few blog, or social media posts and believe this alone ticks their marketing box and leave it there. Yet marketing is so much more than just social media, or the very latest trend.

Anyone who is using this as their marketing strategy may be surprised when it doesn’t work. This is when they’ll  1) blame marketing, or 2) try harder, study and spend more and end up taking on more advice that might not be right for their business.

Yet, it gets worse: like so many other small businesses out there when you are following someone else’s advice rather than what is right for you, you’ll start to feel false, sleazy, or pushy.

Yet, this isn’t what we are aiming for when we are marketing our products and services, and it can easily be avoided.

So what is Marketing:

Let’s start by getting clear on what marketing is by looking at its etymology:

Marketing (n.)

1560s, “buying and selling, the act of transacting business in a market,” verbal noun from market (v.). Meaning “produce bought or sold at a market”.

Super simple, once upon a time, if you had a turnip to sell you’d take it to the market, why? Because that’s where people looking to buy turnips would be hanging out. They want turnips, you have turnips to sell – happy days!

Sure, the turnip vendor had a much less complex business to contend with, and their marketing was akin to shouting ‘Two for a pound’ at the top of their voice. However, the concept hasn’t changed much, marketing is about connecting people that are offering a certain set of products/ services with the people that are looking to buy those types of products and services.

There is no need to try to force what you are selling on unsuspecting people by stalking them, pushing what you have on them, using mind manipulation techniques, overselling and over-promising, or devaluing what you do to make a sale.

The good news is that you don’t need to con, trick, or hustle your way into anyone’s wallet.

What is that one marketing you should be doing?

To be bluntly honest, there is no magic one-fix pill for all your marketing needs.  What is right for you will depend on who you are, what you are offering, and who your ideal customer is. Where is this customer hanging out, and what are the ways that they would prefer that you communicated with them?

I see marketing as a super friendly neighbour that might welcome you to the neighbourhood with a big smile, hot cuppa tea with a tray of freshly baked cookies, and an open invitation to knock on their door if you ever need any local insight, issues or have run out of sugar.

Marketing isn’t about closing the deal, that’s the sales side of the equation.  Marketing is a knock on the door, a welcoming smile, the start of an engaging conversation, and the opportunity to connect more authentically and deeply with your ideal customer while getting to know each other more.

Getting to know your ideal customer

You need to get to know your ideal customers, what is important to them, and how can you advise, be of service and help them with the products/ services that you offer. It’s also good to recognise and be honest about the fact that not everyone is a good fit.

It’s also equally important for them to get to know you through the marketing you do.  They will want to know who they are buying from, what results will get, do we match their values, speak their language and if will it be a good match for us both.

Imagine hiring a coach based on a friend’s recommendation. Then to your great surprise, this coach turns out to be an ex-navy seal who runs their sessions like a drill sergeant, and you as a sensitive soul were looking for some comforting support. As you can imagine it is unlikely to be a good fit. There is nothing wrong with this type of coach, as they are perfectly suitable for a different type of client.

This also goes both ways, while they wouldn’t suit your needs, from their point of view the coach is also likely to prefer clients that love working with them and for whom they can get good results.

This is why it’s imperative for you both to get to know each other and that you are authentic in the marketing and messaging that you put out into the world.

Know thyself, to be your most authentic self

Before starting on the best marketing for you and your business, it’s important to get clear on what you are offering, what your points of uniqueness are, and what suits your persona as well as your customers.

The clearer we can get on what we offer, who we serve, our values, our proposition and the benefits that others get by working with or buying our products, the better we can bring that messaging and essence into the marketing that we do.

When we think we need to be something other than ourselves that’s when our marketing starts to feel and look false. The more we do activities and use messaging that isn’t a good fit for us, it will be reflected in our marketing, which in turn will start to feel like an empty façade, and if it’s not resonating with us, it’s unlikely to resonate with our potential clients.

We have all seen commercials, adverts or sales pitches where the company exaggerates or just outright lies, we all know how uncomfortable it feels. We sense it. While it’s the opposite when someone speaks from their heart, knows their worth and is super passionate about what they do.  We all have that deeper gut feeling and we know if it resonates with us, or if it doesn’t.

Make sure you are passionate and believe what you are saying. Be sure of and not shy about what you do offer and be vocal about that in a way that feels authentic to you.

If you aren’t sure, check in with some current clients and see what they are saying, you’ll be surprised how well they know you, and that they are likely to also use a language and description that you can relate to, as it’s likely to be a reflection of the work you already do with and for them.

Different marketing activities

Once you are clear on who you are, what you are offering and who you are offering it to. Then it’s time to look to see what the most suitable form of marketing is to reach that ideal customer.

Your dream customers can’t wait to hear from you. The trick is knowing enough about them and trying a few different marketing tactics to see which works best for you both. Don’t be shy about trying different approaches, and switch and evolve if one isn’t working then try another.

Just don’t try it all at once as you may get a little overwhelmed and you won’t be able to see what does and doesn’t work as clearly.

It’s also advisable to do what suits you personally, for instance, if you hate being filmed, then forcing yourself to do videos while you’re cringing and looking uncomfortable is pointless. If you dislike something, then the chances are you’ll be resentful, and your audience will notice.

Here is a small sample of marketing activities that you could try, depending on what you offer:

Content Creation/ Education:

• Blog Posts/ Guest posts / Videos / Social Media /Webinars  /Podcasts

Events/ Tradeshows:

• Exhibiting at a tradeshow/ market / Speaking at an event

Advertising & Promotion:

• Online /offline adverting
  • Google / social media advertising
  • Print advertising
    • Advertorials/ Editorials/ Advert
• Brochures / Direct-mail / Samples/ giveaways

Memberships:

• Networking /  Connecting with other peers

Partnerships

• Partnering with like-minded complementary companies

This isn’t a deep dive, I’ll go deeper into these options in future posts, but I do want to give you an overview of what is out there and what is possible depending on your situation.

Statistics show that it can take up to 7 marketing touchpoints before someone purchases from you. This is what we’d call a buyers journey, for example, a potential customer may meet you initially at an event, follow you on social, or visit your website for your free downloadable, before reading your email newsletter and clicking through for a free consultation call and eventually becoming a customer.

Do ask any new customers where they heard from you, so that you can get some clarity on what is working. Also, if relevant check in with current clients about what magazines they read, websites, social media, or events that they go to, as you might get some ideas that you hadn’t previously thought of.

TIP:  Don’t hesitate to try something other than what everyone else in your industry is doing. If everyone else is doing Instagram reels it will be cluttered, costly and hard to stand out. Take the opportunity to try something completely different like sending them something lovely a product sample or a letter.

Authentic Marketing is being yourself

Like most things in life, marketing is what you make out of it. Simply copying someone else or jumping on the latest trend isn’t the best way to communicate who you are and what you offer, on top of that you’ll feel disingenuous, pushy and sleazy in the process.

The more authentic you are and the more you can bring that brilliant real version of yourself into the marketing messaging and activities that suit you best, the right customers will automatically resonate with the marketing that you do. This in turn will lead to much better results and it will feel easier, more enjoyable and natural. 

Thanks for the use of the images to:

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash
Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash