Real Marketing is WAY Easier Than You Think

Let’s face it: Most small businesses get ignored. Even ones with great products or services. It’s unfair, but such is life. We live in a VERY noisy world and only those who communicate CLEARLY will be heard.

I want to help— the way I help my clients — by showing them a different way of thinking about and executing marketing.

First a few disclaimers. I don’t like advertising. I never have. In fact, the entire profession has become so irrelevant and skip-able — that consumers will pay streaming services MORE money just to skip it. That’s NOT something that will ever build relationships for a brand—sorry. So much advertising today is just pharmaceuticals with these stupid slice-of-life video montages filled with singing and dancing while they hope you don’t notice the long list of horrific side effects of these expensive medicines. And doing all of this while sharing their much-too-private business that REALLY should be kept between doctors and patients. I DON’T need to know all of the crap that is wrong with you. Keep your private business private. But I digress…

Second, I really don’t like bothering people. I don’t like being bothered myself and I have a “do undo others” thing going that has always worked out for my clients with solid results and growth.

Ok, so what is YOUR simplest path to an effective marketing strategy?

Self-interest.

I’ve found throughout my 30-year marketing & communications career that human beings are programmed to operate in our own self interests. –But only about 100 percent of the time. 🙂 Neuroscience proves it over and over. We are SUPER interested in ourselves. And as a marketer, you can USE this knowledge to reach your audiences.

Scott’s Five Tips for Simple, Effective Marketing

  1. Start with a GREAT product or service – if you don’t have this, you will fail every single time and no amount of marketing in the world will prevent this failure
  2. Create a GREAT clear story all about your customer starring as the HERO and put yourself in the GUIDE role helping your HERO achieve his/her greatness
  3. Create VALUE in all of your communications with your data insights, your expertise, your whatever but ADD VALUE any time you communicate
  4. Don’t hard sell anyone — you don’t want that business like you don’t want the awkwardness of a one-night stand. The customer will tell you when THEY are ready to commit
  5. ALWAYS look for new ways to add value and be SILENT when you don’t have any. The choice of being intentionally silent could save the relationship.

See, easy. We make this stuff WAY too hard and complicated. But when you value your customer relationships and know how fragile and precious they are, you see why marketing isn’t always such a good thing and why it can be VERY dangerous for the brand.

I’m always available to answer marketing questions or talk about any problems you’re having out there. Just reply to this post or DM me and we can talk. Let’s get out there and do some GREAT marketing!