Marketing was far from my mind and the last thing I considered spending time on when I first began business. When I heard other business’s mention their marketing plan, I shrugged my shoulders and said word of mouth was mine. Over the years I began thinking more about marketing and wanting to understand it. I started seeing that marketing was another business skill I needed to learn; as valuable as balancing numbers and time management. I realized smart and sustainable businesses had an intentional marketing plan. The only problem was, I had no idea how. It felt awkward, forced, and like a necessary evil.

But we tried. And here is why ‘marketing’ did not work for us.

1. It was a reaction.

It went something like this….oh wow, our September calendar is not booked like we’d like. We have three weeks, what can we pull together till then? It never worked. But even worse than a failed attempt, fear of coming across as pushy and desperate made me want to run the other way. As a result, I avoided thinking about marketing unless it felt absolutely necessary only compounding my dislike of marketing.

Marketing will fall flat and feel even worse.

2. We relied on social media only.

Social media is a vital business tool and should be used with intention. It’s a means for businessses to connect, form relationships, and create a presence in the online world. However, there is a lot of noise out there. We will be disappointed if we are hoping that this platform alone will get us noticed. Second, Social media is unpredictable. It is a platform we do not own. Recently Instagram changed the rules and we no longer can guarantee who will see our posts. Third, social media is meant to be social. When used too heavily as a promoting tool, viewers will resent and stop following along. Fourth, what worked today may not work tomorrow. Social media’s landscape changes at the speed of lightening; preferences moving from Facebook to Instagram to Snapchat. It is risky to rely only on one platform. What is here today may quickly lose relevancy tomorrow.

Marketing efforts invested into only social media risk being unsustainable.

3. Our message was confusing.

Words turn into noise when there is not a clear message. Clarity attacts. Ambiguity does not. We all have more to do than we have time for, if something feels unclear we will walk away instead of taking the time to understand. As business owners, we are immersed in what we do everyday. It is easy to forget how little everybody else knows about what we do. Don Miller says, “What we offer, how it will help our customers, and where to buy should be understood within the first 5 seconds a new visitor is on our website.”

A confusing and unclear message loses interest immediately.

4. We forgot people rarely buy a product because of the product.

Nobody needs another gadget, book, pair of shoes, handmade good…instead we want hope, a promise, a boost of confidence. We buy something because of an internal desire. Speaking to this internal need communicates we understand our customer and think like them. Trust will follow.

We buy local because it feels great to support community.
We buy brand names jeans because we want to be on trend.
We buy a new website because it earns our brand respect and perceived value.
We buy Apple because we desire to be tech savvy and a creative, forward thinker.

When promoting the product only, people will lose interest.

5. We talked about ourselves a lot.

The world honestly does not care how awesome we are. They will care about us only when they understand how we will help them succeed. Touch briefly on history, uniqueness, and quality of product; but leave it there. When it come down to it, business is helping others win and our messaging should communicate how we will do that.

Being bigger and better no longer works.

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Marketing guru Seth Godin said “Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but about the stories you tell.”

Our view of marketing was all wrong. We have learned marketing does not need to look and feel like the “traditional” marketing at all. Today we understand marketing looks more like a relationship. Instead of interrupting people to gain attention, we build something people care about and believe in. It’s forming a tribe based on beliefs and a way of doing life.  It’s an ongoing conversation felt, heard, and experienced. It is connection happening at many touch points, online and offline. It is cohesive, intentional, and authentic.

Learning this as been a journey. We are eager to fully live out what we are learning and help others do the same with STORY.

STORY is a holistic brand and marketing strategy built on connection and trust. Designed with intention and woven into the fabric of your brand, it is a fluid strategy for connecting with your customers earning loyalty and commitment. Story is a three step process 1. Building your story foundation 2. Defining and creating your story’s visuals 3. A strategy for implementing your story with consistency. 

If we are in business, we are in the business of marketing. And the best part about that? That does not have to be a bad thing.