Your ONE Marketing Thing

Yeah, the nerd is coming our full force in this one today. And here's why.

Day in and day out, I see people trying to do WAY too many things from a marketing perspective. Handing out rings to elves and dwarves and men, over extending their budgets and people capacity, all for the sake of DOING something. The culmination of which is probably layoffs.

Now, normally I wouldn't recommend acting like a villain. But for the sake of this article, we're going to tap into the mindset of Sauron; into the mindset of forging a MASTER Ring, or in this scenario, the One Thing that all your connecting, content and conversation can fall under.

(If I've lost you already with the LOTR references, don't worry, they'll subside...or will they?)

First of all, let's look at some things that commonly get us off track when it comes to a Marketing One Thing.

What Our Competitors Are Doing

This is huge, particularly in the Tech arena. I've shared fairly frequently about the custom development sales rep I was chatting with who told me that their marketing strategy was all about SEO-ing for the exact same keywords as their competitors. Can you say, race to the bottom?

Now, I'm not saying to not KNOW about what your competitors are doing. Of course that's helpful. But is it what YOU would do?

And here's bonus self-honesty time...if you knew that something worked for someone else, would you do it JUST because it works for someone else if it feels BAD to you?

Some people will answer yes. Usually because they don't think their way has any merit. This is actually one of the reasons I don't like watching TV any more...because there's too many shows about all the bad stuff you have to do to make money in the world. It convinces us we need to be devious, manipulative, and cheat to be "successful". But if you already know you would never do that, instead of empowering ourselves in OUR way, we "accept" that we'll never achieve that.

And while I'm asking you to tap into your villain side for this article, THAT's not what I'm talking about.

Do you think Sauron cared how someone else would go about conquering Middle Earth? Heck no. He did it HIS way.

And when we ONLY consider what our competitors are doing, and not what WE WOULD DO, we just become a copy cat Sauron. We become Saruman, a willing participant in letting someone else rule.

Industry "Standards"

Every industry has it's standard way of marketing and sales. Processes and systems that fall "in line" with what other people are doing in the industry.

It's not that the standard is bad...it's just GENERIC.

And if you've created a business product or solution that is INNOVATIVE, following the industry standards is NOT going to demonstrate that.

Which means, your marketing ISN'T DOING ANYTHING to support the growth of your business.

Now, some industries have legal restrictions for the sake of keeping people safe. I'm not saying to defy THOSE. What I AM saying is that, specifically if you're trying to break the status quo with your business, adhering unquestioningly to the industry standards is NOT going to help you. It makes you one of the same.

The Big Guys

On the last episode of the Crazy, STUPID Marketing Show, we were talking about Super Bowl ads. Which is pretty much the cream of the crop when it comes to advertising. Huge companies, with huge budgets get Super Bowl ads, but somehow, as small companies, we expect that we should do the same.

Of course, we can't actually finance a Super Bowl ad...but it doesn't stop us from thinking that's what we SHOULD be doing when it comes to advertising.

But everyone forgets that The Big Guys weren't always big. They didn't always have the budget for advertising like that. It becomes available to you AFTER you're a Big Guy...it's not actually what turns you INTO a Big Guy.

Again, I think if people THINK about this, we know it. Yet, companies are still taking actions on the daily basis to directly compete with The Big Guys in their marketing tactics.

YOU CAN'T.

It's like a Hobbit can't be an Elf. An Elf can't be a Dwarf (nor would they want to!) A Man can't be a Wizard. You are what you are.

But that doesn't mean you can't be AWESOME at that. And serve a bunch of clients who believe in doing things YOUR way.

Your One Thing

I hope you weren't waiting for me to TELL you what your One Thing is. Because I can't actually tell you that. Until I get to know you, anyway.

To quote Simon Sinek,

"People don't buy what you do; they buy WHY you do it"

So, why do you do what you do? Why did you create what you created? What was the gap you saw in the industry? What problem are you trying to fix? And for whom?

It's therein where your answer lies.

And yours is different from everyone else's.

Because it's YOUR One Thing.

It's not your market's one thing. It's not your industry's one thing. It's not your ideal customers one thing.

It's YOURS.

And once you tap into what that is, you unlock your ability to Rule Them All.

(Just don't get greedy and become a true villain) 😉

If you need some support tapping into your Marketing One Thing, we should chat. Book a Discovery Call or DM me 💖