Doing it on purpose is how you overcome your fear of marketing
How to own your marketing without fear
Sometimes it feels safer to avoid marketing. If things are going okay, do I even need marketing? Why would I need to flap my arms about to get more attention?
Is marketing only for those who can’t make a sale? Isn’t it for manipulating customers and tricking them into buying?
The idea of marketing brings up images of shifty characters twisting your arm and forcing you to buy. So many business owners steer clear altogether for fear of being tainted by those stereotypes.
But the thing is, marketing is not something you choose to DO. Marketing is something you HAVE.
Even if you don’t create a “marketing plan” you are still doing marketing.
It’s like, even if you never gave much thought to your personality, you've still got one.
Or your reputation. Even if you don’t manage it or look after it. You’ve still got one.
Marketing is not a bag of tricks you pull out once in a while. It’s how you show up every day.
Your logo is part of it. But there’s more to it than that. It’s the state of your car park, or the condition of your truck. It’s the way your staff answer the phone. And the way you greet customers at the door. It’s in your company’s DNA.
Actually it is your company’s DNA.
How you show up, in the market, every day. That’s your marketing.
There are three kinds of marketing
First, there’s the easy, short term hustle. The kind of marketing where you take whatever you can get away with. It works for a bit.
But people know. Like a selfish person pretending to be kind just to get ahead. People can feel when marketing is selfish.
That’s the kind we want to avoid.
And so we have the second kind of marketing: No plan. No activity.
We stay small and keep quiet for fear of stepping out of line. What if people see your ad and think you’re selfish too? What if you do sponsor the local soccer team but people just think you’re trying to get more business? Oh my!
Perhaps it’s easy to go quiet. Keep your head down. Do your work. Don’t make a fuss. Let the others fight over the customers. Just be happy with whatever comes through the door. (Well, not happy, but you know, make do.)
But even if you’re not trying to DO marketing you always HAVE marketing
Even if you’re not posting your environmental policy on Facebook and Twitter, the packaging you serve your product in tells us what you think. (Or that you didn’t think.)
Marketing isn’t the ads you make.
It’s who you are.
It’s always on. Like your personality and your reputation.
That’s where the third kind of marketing comes in. The hard kind. The kind that’s about who you really are.
It’s not easy, but it beats hiding in the shadows. And it certainly beats being selfish.
It starts with empathy. Generosity. Win win.
It’s long term. It’s selfless. It’s hard.
This kind of marketing lasts because it’s based on helping people out.
It doesn’t aim to make a quick buck. It aims to build a connection and a reputation for service.
The good news is you don’t have to DO any ads or make any stuff. But you do have to own it. You have to do it on purpose.
Tell us what you think. Show us what you value. Be yourself, just a little louder.
You don’t have to wait for the word to get out. It’s okay to spread the word and do your marketing on purpose.
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