Stop Telling and Start Showing

Today’s world is full of noise. We are constantly being bombarded by statistics, outlandish promises, and gimmicks to get us to press the “buy” button. Maybe it’s a phone call that interrupts your dinner or five seconds on youtube you are forced to bear before you can hit the magical “skip ad” button. In our label obsessed world all this noise has been huddled under one word, marketing. Steve Jobs was known to ban the “dirty word” from his creative meetings. Believing marketing was for businesses with a poor product. But what if we told you that just this once Steve was wrong. Maybe marketing isn’t dirty, maybe it’s just misunderstood.

Marketing is simply providing value. It is not telling the world how great you are. It’s showing the world what you find valuable and moving them toward it.

We want to give you three ways to market your value without feeling like a used car salesman.

1. Always Be Honest

Trust is crucial to building brand awareness and more importantly loyalty. Do not be tempted to exaggerate your value or make promises your brand can’t keep. Be honest about your value and why your brand will make a positive impact in people’s lives. If you have a minute, check out our post on building a brand people can trust.

2. Give Your Best Away

Don’t be afraid to be generous. The best way for people to learn about your brand is by interacting with it. The most effective strategy is to simply take the best content you have and give it away. Consumers naturally will place you in one of two categories. You are either a “giving business” or a “taking business”. “Taking businesses” will quickly be labeled noise. On the other side of the coin, consumers will feel led to invest in a “giving company”. In Robert Cialdini’s book Influence he speaks of the “rule of reciprocity”. The more you give to the consumer the more they will invest in you.

3. Provide an Easy Path

Communicating value to consumers is useless unless you provide them an easy path to action. Every interaction is a possible consumer relationship. Make it easy for them to interact. People will always follow the path of least resistance. Does that path lead to your brand or away from it?

We love Steve just as much as the next Apple addict. But maybe marketing isn’t as dirty as he thought it was. Take these three steps and begin to create value, and not noise.

If you want to share your story better, connect with us here.