What Makes Marketing Confusing for NON-Marketers
I received the following comment on one of my MANY LinkedIn posts:
I have always found marketing a confusing business. Not only do different people in the marketing game tell us different things, sometimes they tell us contradictory things. For people like me it is a minefield.
This is NOT unusual.
But the problem ISN'T the marketers.
The problem is YOU 🫵
And the solution isn't for you to know marketing better.
It's for you to know YOURSELF better.
So today, I'm breaking down some of the top things that confuse people in the marketing conversation, as well as what you need to know about YOUR OWN BRAND to actually figure out what's right for you 💞
The Role of Marketing
I would like to say I see this confusion primarily in solopreneurs, but that's unfortunately not the case. I've seen it in businesses that make millions of dollars and have been in business for 10+ years. I've seen it in companies that provide marketing services to their clients. I've seen it a lot in tech, and I've also seen it in mature, HUGE organizations.
So, it pretty much exists EVERYWHERE.
Here's the thing: there isn't ONE role of marketing for all businesses. The role of marketing is based on what YOU need it to do for your business.
And therein lies the rub.
Most businesses HAVEN'T DEFINED what the role of marketing is in THEIR organization.
Many businesses copy other businesses.
Many people copy something they've heard or read on the internet.
But if you're copying someone else's role of marketing, how can it possibly serve you?
This one is simple: DEFINE THE ROLE OF MARKETING IN YOUR ORG.
And then maybe create some metrics to track that tell you a story about how you're performing there.
And when it doesn't seem to fit anymore, do the exercise again.
AND CHANGE IT.
Just like your business evolves over time, so should the role of marketing 💡
Marketing Jargon
Just like any other industry, Marketing is full of jargon. SEO, PPC, CPC, CTR, MQL, and the list goes on. And while jargon in general tends to lead to misunderstandings, the key here is not to get caught up in the keywords, but to RE-FOCUS on what marketing is supposed to be doing for you.
After all, the majority of the jargon in our industry is related to either a tactic or a metric. NEITHER of which dictate strategy.
So sure, maybe Search Engine Optimization (SEO) makes sense for you, if your website (or other content) is responsible for driving leads.
And sure, maybe Click-Through Rates (CTR) are relevant to you, because you're testing digital ads and whether or not they drive Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL's).
If you find yourself getting caught up in the jargon, you're focusing your mental calories on the WRONG part of the conversation.
Get back to the WHY behind your marketing, and let the jargon come to you.
Target Audiences
Oh, man. I can't even tell you how many "ways" there are to define your target market. You can probably Google 100 different templates for creating this (no joke). And all of them will be a little bit different. And most of them aren't helpful in the slightest.
Why?
Because they are 100% focused on someone else and not YOU.
Which sounds weird, right? This isn't about ME. It's about my Target Audience.
Correction.
It's about MY Target Audience.
The MY is a very important piece of the puzzle.
And it's what makes it YOUR Target Audience instead of A Target Audience.
If it's not about YOU, how can you find YOUR people.
You can't. Full stop.
When I work with my clients on defining a Target Audience, it always starts with this question:
WHO ARE YOUR PEOPLE?
You know; those people how are your favorite clients (and yes, we all have them). The people who are the easiest to work with. The people who are FUN to help. The people you could go for a beer with, or hit the golf course with, or the karaoke club.
THOSE are your people.
And THAT'S who you should be focusing on.
What makes them fun? What makes them easy to work with? What makes you want to have more clients like them?
Just recycle all those other templates that ask you people's age, household income or target industry and answer THESE questions instead.
The Algorithm
Ahh, our beloved algorithms. Every platform has them. And they are different on every platform. And they are forever changing.
It's like they WANT us to pull our hair out, am I right?! 🤣
Here's the thing about The Algorithm.
It's here to play IT'S game.
The LinkedIn Algorithm wants to keep you on LinkedIn. It wants you to have a valuable experience of LinkedIn. And it wants you to buy stuff on LinkedIn.
But last time I checked, those deliverables were NOT my deliverables.
A lot of people talk about playing The Algorithm Game. It's not something I recommend.
Now sure, play NICE with The Algorithm. You don't need to end up in LinkedIn Jail.
But it's over there playing it's game.
You need to be over HERE playing YOUR game.
Which is pretty difficult to do if you don't know what YOUR game IS 😉
So, the secret to eliminating your overwhelm with The Algorithm?
FIGURE OUT WHAT GAME YOU'RE PLAYING.
And ask one of your LinkedIn friends how to play nice with The Algo.
And then get busy playing your game; instead of someone else's.
Analytics and Metrics
So much marketing data, so little time.
And so little value ⛔
Every day there are more and more ways to "measure" marketing. And you can fill up your day measuring THINGS that really have no impact on your business whatsoever.
Come on...you've done it right?
Measured your post views. Number of engagements. Number of pieces of content you created. Number of emails you sent out.
Almost ALL of us who have touched marketing have measured something meaningless at one point or another. Myself included.
So, how can we tell if we're measuring what matters?
KNOW WHAT MATTERS.
This comes back to the Role of Marketing in YOUR organization.
What is Marketing supposed to be doing for you? AND WHY?
And how can you track THAT?
Because tracking THINGS that don't impact that 👆 DON'T MATTER.
And can waste a TON of time and effort.
I love to start here:
What if you could only track ONE thing? What would be the most meaningful thing?
Try it! I would love to hear your answers via DM ✨
Integrated Marketing
Another place where people start to spin their wheels. So much so there are marketing consultants that specialize ONLY in things like Account-Based Marketing (ABM).
We all know there are a LOT of channels available in Marketing. And integrating them can be complex.
But you also don't NEED multiple channels plugging into multiple places.
You CAN do ONE THING that works.
Now yes, your efforts need to be plugged into each other to form a funnel. But you only need ONE FUNNEL.
ESPECIALLY if you don't have ONE FUNNEL today that works 🙄
Too many people get over-diversified too early in the process. And until you have one consistent way of driving business, you only need ONE CONSISTENT WAY to drive business.
Don't make it too complicated, friends.
Permission granted for simplicity.
Consumer Behavior
Honestly, this one has confused me from DAY ONE in Marketing.
People spin their wheels over and over trying to figure out what other people are thinking, and what makes them do what they do.
But we're ALL consumers.
We can all tap into the experience of consuming something.
And if we pay attention, there's really only one thing to realize here...
YOU CAN'T MAKE ANYONE DO ANYTHING.
Free will reigns at the end of the day.
I decide where I want to spend my money.
And the more someone tries to convince me, the LESS I trust them.
Marketing isn't about CHANGING behavior.
Marketing is about SHOWING PEOPLE there are solutions to problems.
Maybe they have those problems. Maybe they don't. We don't necessarily know that when we write a blog, or post an ad.
What we DO know is that people will only buy when they are ready to buy.
And I either get to join them on their journey, or I don't.
So, what if we stopped trying to hard to PREDICT something?
And instead focused on going ON A JOURNEY with people?
I'll just leave that one here for you to play with 🎉
Last (but not least), Branding
I mean, this is my passion area so I could probably go on for a LONG WHILE here. But I'm actually going to keep it simple (we are trying to reduce overwhelm, right?)
Your Brand is the experience other people have of you.
That's it. That's all.
It's not a Logo.
It's not a Tagline.
It's not about your Influencer Strategy.
It's not about a specific Budget.
It's an EXPERIENCE.
And really, a combination of ALL the experiences they have with you.
That includes your Marketing efforts, but it ALSO includes: 1) Sales Interactions, 2) Client Onboarding, 3) Operational Inefficiencies, 4) Billing Experiences, 5) Delivery, 6) Renewals and every OTHER interaction people have with your business.
Marketing might set the tone.
But we can't "build a brand" without all the other departments coming to play. And yes, this is equally relevant for solopreneurs.
The intention to create full brand connection HAS to be there.
Otherwise, your brand doesn't mean anything. And WON'T mean anything.
And fun fact, this ties us back into where we started, with the Role of Marketing...I love a full circle moment 😊
In Summary
If you go out to look for ways other people have done things, you will ALWAYS find lots of information. And it's not bad information; likely it's worked for many people.
But that doesn't mean it will work for you.
You need to build the skills of discernment.
In trying on concepts and ideas to see what FITS you.
Because just like clothes, not everything WILL fit.
And not because there's anything wrong with you. Or the outfit.
It's just not a good match 💖
If you can get your mindset to THAT point, then you're golden ✨
And if you're looking for a place to practice your Authentic Marketing discernment skills, the Authentic Marketing Fellowship is OFFICIALLY OPEN FOR REGISTRATION! Come and JOIN US
