Five Ways To Market Without “Marketing”

“Marketing” is a four letter word.

We associate it with the direct mail campaigns that flood our mailboxes and telemarketers calling us at dinner time to sell us new warranties on our cars when we’ve already got them.

Nobody likes the idea of being marketed to.  We’re individuals, damn it, not “prospects,” “leads” or statistics.  I’m not your 2% conversion rate – I have a life and a story all my own. And you’re interrupting it.

But as business owners we need to market.

So how do we  reconcile the need to engage in marketing as a business owners with the distaste we all have as individuals when we recognize we’re being marketed to?

The simple answer: don’t market.

OK, I don’t mean that exactly.  What I mean is don’t market in the traditional sense.

Here are five simple ways to approach this:

1. Do unto others…

Think about the last time you received an unsolicited email that was obvious in its marketing agenda – maybe a newsletter from someone who you met at a local networking event letting you know a few ways their product or service can help you and that they’re available to chat about it.

How did you feel when you got it?  Weren’t you intrigued?  Didn’t you want to learn more about the offer?  You were probably happy just to get an email since your inbox is always so drab and bare, right?

No, I’m guessing not.

The truth is that we’re bombarded with shabby attempts at marketing all day long.  And as a result we’ve grown quite adept at detecting B.S.  We smell it coming a mile away and our guard is locked in the upright position.  Stimulus: interruption.  Reaction: annoyance.

You might think, “well my business is different.”  That may be true, but then why market like everyone else?

2. Offer a valuable gift

We’re all selfish – it’s just the way we’re wired.

We want to know immediately: what do I stand to gain?  It must be tangible.  A “free consultation” is vague and abstract.  A $50 gift card is not.

The key word here is “valuable.”  A free consultation sounds like a disguised sales meeting.

3. Use testimonials to combat skepticism

Name a single business owner who won’t tell you their product or service works.

Asking a business owner to be brutally honest about her business is like asking your mother if you’re ugly.  Honesty is out of the question.

Your prospects are thinking the same thing about you.  Don’t take it personally.  Convince them otherwise – and the word of other people is always going to work better than your own.

Include relevant testimonials and case studies instead of highlighting the features of your offer.

4. Tell a great story

We love narratives.  All of us.

The story of your business, the problems it solves and the opportunities it creates is a real, human story.  Tell it.  Talk about why you started the business.  What has your journey been? What are the stories of the people you’ve helped?

Your prospective customers have a story too – they’re in it right now.  They’re in the middle of it when your email comes in.  How does your business fit their story – how does it take them in a new direction?  Tell them.

5. Remember – marketing runs through everything you do

Marketing starts long before you advertise, and it doesn’t end when the product or delivered or the project is finished.

Marketing is in the way you do everything.  Every experience your customer has with your business – the way you answer the phone, the quality of your packaging, the design of your website and the color of your suit – becomes part of your story.

The point of all this: the marketing we notice tends to be pushy and obvious.  Great marketing gets out of the way and let’s the value, and the story, shine through.