December is that time of year for putting together a list of short, sage pieces of advice on marketing, life and the things I have learned on my journey. These 19 tips have helped me in my business career and my personal life. My only wish is that one tiny sliver helps you too.
Sage Marketing Tips
- Simpler is always better. Don’t try and communicate more than one central message in an email campaign.
- Serve an audience. Don’t sell stuff to people who don’t care, serve people who have challenges where your solution might help.
- Challenge category conventions. Avoid blending into your category by acting like everyone else. Difference and pattern interruption is what people notice.
- Focus, focus, focus. You know you are trying to do too much. Pick a top priority and go deep in that effort.
- Perfect is a waste of time. Learn from the market through speed and feedback loops. The minimal viable product allows real customers to help refine your product offering.
- Describe what only your brand can do. There is nothing more powerful than an “only we” statement that separates you from the competition.
- Schedule thinking time on your calendar. You need time to process information, think through projects and evaluate options. Plan to think – even if it means a scheduled walk or run during the day.
- Branding isn’t marketing. These are two different animals, and you need to understand how they relate. Marketing is amplification. Branding is how your brand gets dressed to go to the dance.
- Write stuff down. Don’t pretend to have an idea, commit it to paper and share it with people who will be constructively critical. Ideas need roots and can’t live in the ether.
- Study and spend time with those you want to serve. Consumers or businesses who you want to sell are humans with problems and challenges. Hang with them, learn about their world and understand their pain points. It makes marketing much more natural.
- Delegate, outsource or stop. You can’t do everything. Let other’s help you move your project forward. If you don’t have any help, you aren’t thinking broadly enough or, you haven’t asked in a way that shows you are willing to reciprocate.
- Test, test and then test some more. There aren’t answers, just A/B testing. Try stuff, see what works and what doesn’t. Keep learning through experiments.
- Read things from outside your interests. I find creative ideas in the strangest places when I break my pattern and read a book on a topic I don’t understand. This approach also works for podcasts on subjects that are foreign to you too. Relevant ideas can come from seeing how problems get resolved outside of your work.
- Be still and listen. I spend 15 minutes each morning in meditation. I sit still. My mind wanders, and I take several deep breaths. I don’t have a goal, but I’m mindful of the sounds around me. The stillness is powerful, but I can’t explain why. I think that’s why it helps.
- Offer thanks without expectation. My grandfather used to ask me who did I say thank you to today? He was a Russian immigrant with enormous gratitude for his life and the opportunities he had in America. Being thankful is one of my favorite practices that reminds me of my love for Pop and the grace in my life. Read Poppa George’s obituary from the New York Times. They called him the penny philanthropist.
- Connect people without asking for anything. I find incredible joy connecting people who may be helpful to each other or who will enjoy a new-found friend with common interests. Few things in life give me more pleasure.
- Be more strategic. When you dive into tactics too quickly, you may end up lost. Where do you want to take your brand and how does it align with the needs of your audience? Start there.
- Constraints are a blessing. If you try to think outside the box, you realize that it would help if you did some thinking inside the box. A constraint enables you to define the situation and problem. See it as a gift, not a limitation. Read more about that here.
- Stop being so serious. Have fun, laugh and enjoy the marketing and life-challenges in front of you. Businesses tend to be so serious. Lighten up and look for a way to connect with audiences you want to market to by acting as a living, breathing human. Smiling and happiness is a marketing secret so few people practice.
As 2018 starts to wind down and we prepare for 2019, my hope for you is that you reach new heights while laughing and breathing out loud.
Photo by Sam Truong Dan on Unsplash
How can I help you? Got a marketing challenge? Let’s talk. You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free, and we can explore if working together makes sense. Try my new chat feature on my site if you have a quick question.
