Marketing Approaches

When you cook or bake, the approach you take re: the dish will often determine your success or failure. I found this out recently while making a grilled cheese sandwich. The bread you use, amount of butter, amount of cheese all can either REALLY work, or in my case, REALLY turn into a mangled, soggy and rather sad grilled cheese. …So the approach matters.

Same with marketing. Now some marketing firms and companies are happy running Google ads and social ads and doing robocalls and even re-targeting customers with the same creepy ads from site to site and it calling it effective marketing. I disagree.

I disagree because I believe marketing is about the relationship. Not one sale, but a lifetime of them. So here’s how my approach is different and I’d say much better. 

  1. Before we even think about beginning to communicate, we need a GREAT message. I define GREAT as messaging that is deep, powerful, emotion-based and 100 percent about the mental and emotional needs of the target audience(s).
  2. Next, I believe in ATTRACTION-based marketing. This means making sure our content (blogs, videos, news, reviews, etc.) is SO good that it attracts its own following. And we work to continue to surprise and delight them with each piece of communications that goes out. This also means that we turn our backs on INTERRUPTION-based marketing like advertising, sales calls, un-targeted awful (and yet frequent) e-mails and even sponsored social posts.  
  3. Finally, I believe in EMPATHY, considering and respecting the audience’s right to be left alone and again, only reaching out when we have something GREAT for them.  

And here’s a little secret. It REALLY works. You see, the clock is running out on interruption-based marketing. The government (state and fed) will be coming very soon with new laws to lock down privacy and fine anyone who doesn’t comply. Plus, if we’re really in the relationship business, why would we do anything that could jeopardize that relationship.

I think the future is very bright for the marketing profession. We do great and amazing work for our clients and build credibility and trust in a world where those things are in very short supply. Once we REALLY learn how to attract people, I’m sure we’ll wonder why anyone would ever consider interrupting them again.

Just like a grilled cheese sandwich, a marketing relationship is a very fragile thing. But done correctly, it can be AMAZING!