I met with a prospective client recently who had acted on conflicting advice about marketing tactics from a couple of different sources and failed to get the results he’d hoped for.

“The trouble with marketers is that each one tries to sell you on their solution.” he said. “The SEO guy will tell you that SEO is the answer. The social media agency will say that Facebook marketing is the way to go. The content marketing firm will tell you that content is king.”

“So what do you think I’m here to sell you on.” I asked.

“Well, getting to know your customers and understanding their story, so that we can serve them better, which will make our story better in the long run?” he replied.

The trouble with marketing is that we’ve separated it from everything else we do to serve our customers. We’ve come to regard marketing as something that gets done after the work, to promote the work. But marketing is the work, and the work, if it’s meaningful and relevant should be the promotion. The story we want customers believe is as valuable to our businesses as the products we sell and the services we design.

If we keep trying to use the tactics in isolation just so we can feel like we’re ‘doing marketing’, then we’re killing our own stories along with those of the customers we serve. You don’t want your customers to trip up over your marketing on a ‘super pavement sign’ you want them to experience it in a meaningful way.

Marketing isn’t something you do. It’s something you live—if you choose to.

Image by justified sinner.