You set yourself the task of marketing your business, your nonprofit—perhaps even yourself. You have a catchy logo and a witty tagline. You’ve invested in some advertising and managed to secure a media story that casts you as a thought leader and your work in a positive light. Or lucky you! You have a video that went viral on TikTok. Maybe you even have a customer relationship marketing (CRM) system and have started sending out an informative newsletter.
These are certainly great activities and useful wins. But they aren’t really what marketing is all about.
“Whoa,” you say. “This sort of activity puts my brand in front of consumers. Of course it’s marketing.”
And while you aren’t wrong in thinking that, this mindset misses the heart of what marketing is. And if there’s no heart in your marketing, it could end up missing the mark in the long run.
What People Think Marketing Is
It’s common that people believe marketing is in these promotional tactics and one-way communications that push products and services to consumers. These activities may include cold calling, email newsletters, ads, and website popups.
People also think viral memes, press coverage, and third-party endorsements, either through conventional media or influencers, constitute marketing. Done well, these are positive developments for your business but actually fall under the auspices of public relations. While related, marketing and public relations are not the same. Public relations focuses on creating a positive public image for your business, while marketing helps draw customers to you.
What Marketing Actually Is
So, if marketing isn’t the nice logo and the well-placed advertisement, what is it? Marketing is about evoking an emotional connection. When brands connect emotionally with consumers, they create trust and memorable experiences that resonate on a personal level, encouraging loyalty and long-term relationships.
Marketing builds communities centered around shared values and interests, connecting with consumers who want to align themselves with brands that reflect their beliefs. This alignment fosters a profound sense of belonging among customers.
Know Marketing When You See It
Marketing is strategic: A well-informed marketing strategy is just that—strategic. It takes into account research on your audience, its needs, and how it wants to receive messaging. That viral video on TikTok, for example, isn’t effective if your audience is on LinkedIn. Marketing maps the customer experience with your product or service from the moment they engage with you through the creation of brand loyalty and understands every nuance and behavior along the way.
Marketing is measurable: Media investment can be significant and therefore should never be like throwing spaghetti against a wall to see what sticks. Using data analysis and attribution, successful marketing follows a campaign, allowing places to benchmark success, track consumer behavior, and be nimble in response to analytics.
Marketing builds community: Most people know when they’re being sold. And they don’t always like it. Marketing builds community around a shared interest, values, or goals so consumers feel a part of something bigger than a bottom line.
Marketing builds trust: It doesn’t matter if you’re talking friendships or business relationships, trust is foundational to loyalty. Marketing allows your end user or consumer to get to know you in a way that creates trust that then organically grows into brand loyalty.
Don’t let your marketing fall into the trap of skating on the surface. You may find you end up skating on thin ice.