Successful marketing is like satisfying sex – don’t overthink it. If you dread marketing you aren’t doing it right. Here’s how enjoy it and do it more often.

We Make It Too Difficult

Marketing has a lot in common with gourmet cooking, Frisbee tossing and satisfying sex. They aren’t difficult – we just make them that way. You have to:

•  Focus on preparation

•  Know what you want to accomplish

•  Execute a lot of fancy flips, turns, posturing and positioning that are just for show

•  Realize that it gets better over time. The first time is the worst it will ever be

•  Accept that sometimes you have to get a little kinky just to keep things interesting

Don’t Overthink Marketing

Marketing is supposed to be exciting, stimulating, energizing and rewarding. Pleasing people is the whole idea. You are giving people what they want, need, value and appreciate. Plus you are being paid to do it. What could be better? Somehow over the past decade event, product and service marketing has gotten complicated, tedious and s-l-o-w!

Marketing Mayhem

Event Marketing has become ponderous with lofty, wordy themes that take up three lines and don’t say anything. It just lists the speakers and workshop titles and doesn’t mention the experience or what people have to gain.

Product Marketing has become cute and flawed. It assumes that every consumer has the attention span of a three year old. Lots of action, music and razzle-dazzle designed to hide the reality that there are very few benefits.

Service Marketing has become all about the company and what it offers – me, me, me, us, us, us. Try to find any real differentiation. Try to find any compelling reasons why customers should do business with them.

No Need To Hyperventilate

Marketing is easy if you just remember to care about your customers, clients and audiences and communicate that concern to them. These are people, not metrics or statistics. They haven’t read the marketing plan.

“All marketing is in response to your customer or client’s needs.”

The goal of your marketing isn’t to satisfy the boss or the VP of Marketing. Who cares if the company CEO likes the event theme? You want the audience to like it. If you design your marketing to please the top floor at headquarters you are doomed to fail. Focus everything on the people who pay your company money or attend your event.

How is your event, product or service the best answer to their needs? All they want is realistic value and the assurance that you are listening, responding and answering their needs. I mean right now.

You Are Chasing Immediate Needs

Needs are immediate. If you take six months to design, craft, test, retest, go get more money and do it again … the customer has given up on you.

“There are no unmet needs. There are only better-met needs. Make your single “big concept” deliver a level of customer connection that your competition can’t match.”

Marketing is all about what people have to gain so make it simple. Make the objective to get more marketing to your target customers, clients and audiences quicker. It doesn’t have to be perfect – it has to be there.

Don’t Over Think It – Do It

Consumer ethnography, focus groups, testing, analytics are tools – not requirements. If we are honest we will admit that they don’t guarantee success they just provide “plausible deniability.” We are trying to stack the deck. Remember every major marketing and advertising campaign that failed – was the one that tested the best.

Take The Fast Track Challenge

Simple challenge. Marketing Team #1 develops a short list of 2-3 ideas, trial creative and a timeline. It’s fast-track marketing.

Marketing Team #2 develops a longer list of potential ideas and then slices and dices research, customer profiles, focus group comments and a number of preliminary creative concepts. Based on this research they develop a short list of 2-3 ideas, trial creative and a timeline.

What’s the difference? Marketing Team #1 has it “on the street” in six weeks. Marketing Team #2 takes six months. The moral is this – Marketing doesn’t have to be perfect—it just has to be there. Over-thinking isn’t a formula for success; it’s a recipe for failure.

Get It To Them While It’s Hot

Remember needs are immediate. People buy for their reasons and not yours. Decide today to simplify the process and compress the timeline. The goal is to be fresh, fast, surprising. Make a clear customer connection based on the moment. By the time your competitors finally get their message to market you’ll be on the third order. Plus you can react to your customers, clients and audience’s real-life responses.

Successful Marketing Is Like Satisfying Sex – Don’t Overthink It

Want to make your marketing and advertising exciting, stimulating, energizing and rewarding? Make them like sex. Don’t make people wait for satisfaction. Rediscover the freedom of being unpredictable – it will drive the “other guys” crazy. Successful marketing isn’t “Yes,” “No” or “Definitely.” Successful marketing is “Let’s see how this feels?” and “Let’s see what this does?”

Let’s spend 15 minutes talking about your next project or challenge. Just click on CONTACT US or send an email to andy@ideagroupatlanta.com and get in touch.

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