For years I thought of marketing as promoting, selling, working to get noticed, offering something that is bigger and better. It thought it was complicated strategies, clink thru links, counting hits, and big dollar ads. I avoided it as much as possible. But then I learned marketing is so much more than that. And it does not have to be complicated. Marketing done well has heart and depth to it. Marketing no longer has to take us away from the work we love and feel inauthentic. Instead, marketing can be interwoven with what we do; making our work better, delighting, and delivering on a promise.

Following are twenty-five things marketing is:

1. It is putting myself in my customer shoes.
2. It is understanding why people do what they do even more than they do themselves.
3. It is caring, like really caring about those I serve.
4. It is showing up over and over an over again; continuing to care.
5. It is having clarity in what I offer and how it will make a difference in other people’s lives.
6. It is consistency, across all platforms and touch points.
7. It being willing to research, develop, and refine so I can help my customers succeed.
8. It is earning trust.
9. It is love.
10. It is hearing the customer complaint without defense, open to change so I can be better.
11. It is watching and aware of the ever changing culture and world around us.
12. It is thinking long term, understanding what your market will want tomorrow.
13. It is relationship.
14. It is accepting that their world view and opinions trump mine, always.
15. It is communicating the right way.
16. It is pretty packaging.
17. It is giving instead of interrupting.
18. It is an invitation.
19. It is fantastic customer service.
20. It is values lived out, inviting those like minded to join our community.
21. It is little actions, shared thoughts, educating others….over and over again.
22. It is having a plan….not a desperate reaction.
23. It is offer a product or service that others want. Simple, yes but we forget that all too often.
24. It is connection.
25. It is hard but not complicated. It is simple but not easy. It is something we all can do, with some heart and hard work.

 

Marketing looks a lot like old fashioned wisdom, the kind that has been around for centuries.  Sure, there are strategies and systems that work today. But at the foundation of all strategies and systems are people. People are people yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We want to be heard, seen, and understood. We want to succeed and live well. If we can give others what they want, then marketing becomes integrated in what we do; instead of disjointed and awkward.  Business is never just business, it is people.

Wrap all that up together, and you got the start to a great brand story. Marketing can be fun after all. :)