There are days when I feel like tearing my (marketing) hair out. Individuals in this industry won’t change their ways. They either chase one fad after another, or poke their heads back in the sand and say: “We’ve always done it this way, and this is the way we’ll do it.” Often I feel I am in the dark ages of marketing where, on one extreme, business owners tell me: “We rely exclusively on repeat and referral business” and, on another, they say: “Canvassing is absolutely the most effective form of marketing out there.”
Of course, most of this behaviour is quite natural: Repeat and referral business of course is the best kind around. Little or no cash cost and lots of payoff in work relationships and satisfaction . . . because the company and clients have plenty of the main ingredient in successful marketing . . . trust. Trust, of course, is the best defense against fear: Of intrusion, invasion, failure, weakness, social rejection and more. It seems, when it comes to marketing, most of us are afraid of our own shadows. (Some of us insist, however, in pushing our fearlessness beyond reasonable limits — can you really, truly trust anyone who builds business by knocking on your door, and everyone else’s), uninvited.)
Now, if we can overcome our marketing fears, we can learn how to extend the concept of trust beyond simply “relying” on word-of-mouth and referrals to enhance and improve these powerful forces and — more importantly — incredibly extend their effectiveness to individuals who (to you) might be complete strangers. To do this, you need to remove or at least reduce your fears of exploring new media, asking for video testimonials, speaking effectively in front of audiences (of the right sort), speaking with the media, and and properly questioning the assertions and recommendations of anyone trying to sell you any kind of marketing service.
(The latter observation of course is a bit of a ringer — because how can you trust that the marketing rep is not using psychological trickery on you to earn your ‘trust’ when the individual is selling you a bunch of crap?)
To answer these observations, here are my thoughts:
- Take some time to learn from your current clients and your best suppliers. Which marketing resources work best for them and how do they conduct their business to be effective and successful? They’ll probably be quite willing to share their insights, observations and referrals. (You might pick up information about marketing consultants, designers, best practices, actual job or project leads, and more.)
- Don’t talk to just one person/organization. You probably can write a short list of five to 10 “bests” in your client/supplier categories. Poll the group. As you progress, you’ll be able to incorporate your observations from earlier participants to later ones — perhaps sharing back some useful information and insights. You’ll also discover some creative and potentially interesting trends.
- Try a few creative non-work (rational) risks. My wife and I will be travelling for a few weeks this summer. We’re going to Turkey and Florence Italy — and then I’m heading off on my own for Victoria Falls and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Obviously, this is an unconventional vacation but Vivian will relive her Italian memories and I’ll return to the place where I discovered as young adult my capability to take intelligent risks and overcome fears. Turkey is totally “new” to both of us. We’ll both travel business class for, effectively, less than regular economy tickets. I can’t say what insights or memories we will capture but know this type of vacation can be the seed of creativity and growth.
Once you’ve followed these steps, you may indeed decide that door-to-door canvassing and cold calling are the best ways to find new business, you may truly believe that media publicity is all about giant cheque presentations and grip-and-grin shots with golden ground-breaking shovels, that you absolutely must/must not have a Facebook page, blog and Twitter account or that you really, truly, should believe every blog posting that you read.
Seriously, of course, if you wish to be effective at marketing, you should gather your information from trusted sources, keeping at the back of your mind enough creativity and caution to avoid being blind-sided by outside surprises or misplaced trust. Validate from the group, but keep your own perspective. You’ll then likely succeed — and may be surprised how little money you need to spend.
