Marketing is advertising, right?
As Seth Godin states in ‘This is Marketing’: “For a long time the most efficient way for a company to promote themselves was ads. Ads worked, were a bargain and pretty quickly marketers decided that advertising was what they did. Marketing was advertising. Then that wasn’t true anymore…”
Marketing has evolved over the years because people, and the world around them, has changed. Marketing now includes empathy, respect and patience which isn’t always easy to embrace but is vital for success in today’s culture.
It’s no longer a numbers game where if you spam enough people or shout loud enough, someone will buy. That could actually now do more harm than good to your brand and reputation.
People want their problems solved in the simplest way possible but our brains are cluttered, attention spans shorter and we’re increasingly distrusting of companies.
Good marketing starts way before promotion. It shapes your products, your brand (what you stand for) and who your target market is.
And yet Marketing in my experience still seems so misunderstood. It’s still often viewed as a big promotional expense, the first to be cut from budgets. We’re referred to as ‘the department that makes things pretty’, ‘the ones who deal with the fluffy stuff’ or, my favourite; ‘the gin and tonic brigade’.
The truth is, if you really want to grow your business, have a more engaged workforce, or happier customers then you need marketing. Not to promote your products but to solve your customers problems, with empathy and respect.
The world around us is constantly changing and you need to constantly adapt with it if you want to thrive. Constant adaptions can often lead to confused messaging though and both customers and employees can become unsure as to what it is you are trying to achieve. Marketing becomes the lighthouse, providing a guiding light for all and preventing your business from ending up on the rocks.
With a wide range of experience in different industries and having worked at board level, I can help you dust off the lightbulb and out-shine your competition.
Are you ready to shine?
