Seth Godin is an eccentric entrepreneur, author and vocal marketer and here are 4 of his marketing truths with questions for your consideration so you can look at how these apply to your business
People rarely buy what they need. They buy what they want.
This strikes at the core of most advertising that appeals to consumers’ aspirations. Our emotions trigger us to buy. Don't make the mistake thinking that people buy what they need. People buy what they want. Needs are driven by logic while wants are driven by emotions.
Don't mistake your market for "everyone who needs your product". You will waste time and money trying to convince people who need your product to want it. The best target market for you is people who want your product. They may or may not need it. As long as they want it they might buy it from you. Consider what you bought lately that you did not need but you wanted.
Choose your customers, choose your future.
Customers are a business’ lifeline and managing your customer across the lifecycle is important. In your business, do customers engage with you once, and then not need your services for another year? How do you keep top of mind?
Are they an ongoing client you see regularly? How do you continue to deliver value to your client?
How well do you know your customers? Define your customers in terms of demographics, psychographics and past behaviours, this will help you understand their buying behaviour and give insight on areas/timing to contact and engage with them.
Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.
Seth states “No one knows the whole truth about anything. We certainly don't know the truth about the things we buy and recommend and use. What we do know and what we talk about is our story. Our story about why we use, recommend or don’t recommend a product or service.
Marketing is storytelling.
The story of your product, built into your product. The ad might be part of it, the copy or images might be part of it, but mostly, your product and your service and your people are all part of the story.”
Tell it on purpose. What are the stories behind your product? What are the stories of the clients using your services or buying your products? How have you helped them or solved their problems?
Why waste a sentence saying nothing?
Seth’s advice applies to all forms of contact be it email, social media and white papers. Everyone is overloaded with information and time poor so only create quality content that your customers want and need. Once you know your ideal client and your current clients, you can provide the most interesting information. Make sure you present it well, make it easy-to-scan (because people consume information at speed and on the go) and use short words, clear headings and bullet points.
