Back
in 1999, I promoted Permission Marketing
to the news media, conducting a radio tour on behalf of the publisher. The author, Seth Godin, is now an Internet
marketing guru, best-selling author, and respected thought leader whose blog
posts are read by millions. The former
VP at Yahoo! and founder of Squidoo is a member of the Marketing Hall of
Fame. So what does he have to offer in
his newest book, This is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See?
“Marketing
is the act of making change happen,” is one of the many sayings offered up in
his 288-page book. Though there were a few interesting thoughts passed along,
one would have best been served to read only the flap copy. It summed up his points perfectly:
“Learn
how to identify the smallest viable audience.
Build trust and permission with your market. Adopt the narratives your fans already
use. Find the guts they create and
release tension. And most of all, give
people the tools and stories they can use to achieve their goals.
“It’s
time to stop lying, spamming, and feeling guilty about your work.
“It’s
time to stop confusing social media metrics with true connections.
‘It’s
time to stop wasting money on stolen attention that won’t pay off in the long
run.”
Yawn.
Don’t
get me wrong, I agree with most of what he says. It’s just that it’s all been said before –by
him and others. For marketers looking
for a detailed proscription on how to correct their unproductive ways, they
weren’t given much to go on. Just stories,
pronouncements, and observations.
He
wants the act of marketing to be more noble, not only because such authenticity
and community-serving scores ethical points, but because it could be a
profitable strategy. But he fails to
acknowledge that marketing styles depend on the product, service, or company
that’s involved. One sells hot dogs at
the arena differently than how a national coffee chain markets itself – and
certainly different from how an indie author markets a book.
He believes marketing is not about shouting, hustling, or coercion. But sometimes it is. Sometimes marketing is about hype, scams, and pressure – and not always about honest stories that solve problems.
He believes marketing is not about shouting, hustling, or coercion. But sometimes it is. Sometimes marketing is about hype, scams, and pressure – and not always about honest stories that solve problems.
There’s
a difference between marketing a want vs. a need. It’s hard to define marketing in a diverse
way through multiple mediums. But he is right to make marketers question what
the customers they seek to sell to believe and want. The answer will dictate the strategy.
So,
as he asks, “In a world of choice, where we have too little time, too little
space, and too many options, how do we choose?” His answer is simple and
obvious: go to extremes, find an edge
(niche), and stand for something, not everything (segment your customer).
He also
says that innovative marketing invents new solutions that work with old
emotions. Marketers have pushed the
buttons of potential customers for centuries, appealing to raw emotions like
love, fear, anger – and to desires for wealth, power, success – and to exciting
things like travel and adventure – and to their sense of morality, nostalgia,
peace of mind, and friendship.
He emphasizes
that marketers need to narrow down their niche – don’t try to serve everyone or
in the same way – and to find your unique selling proposition and to double down
on it.
His
belief is there are five steps to marketing:
1.
Invent
something worth making. Have a story
worth telling.
2.
Design
and build it in a manner that only a few people will benefit or care about it –
target someone, not everyone.
3.
Share
a story that fulfills the internal narrative (one’s assumptions and sense of
things) or dreams of a tiny group of people.
4.
Spread
the word (ads, media, social media, speaking, etc.)
5.
Work
to build the change that you seek to make.
Earn permission from potential customers to follow up with them.
He
does point out that marketing should not assume that everyone is like them, knows what they know, or wants what they want.
Nor should they assume that those they seek to serve are well-informed,
rational, independent, long-term choice-makers.
So
how is today’s marketer – whether of a book or some other product or service – to break through when they compete with each other in a noisy, crowded landscape, where so much is commoditized or sold based on convenience and comfort?
I
didn’t really find the answer in Godin’s book, though I admit he did give a
comprehensive reminder of all the challenges and failings today’s marketer
confronts – and he did express some truisms, though not new, that are worth
remembering.
For
the 21st century, marketers have wondered how to compete when
suddenly there’s global competition to even sell a pencil and when the Internet
reduces everything to lowest price above quality, with same-day shipping, and the
accrual of customer loyalty points. The
answer is there are companies folding, merging, making less, or looking to
expand and diversify what it does. Which
leads to the next problem: everyone is
trying to sell everything. Specialty
stores are in danger.
The
answer to marketing anything these days? Be prepared to do a lot, to vary what you
do, to experiment, and to expect diminished returns on what worked
yesterday. So all that Godin tells you
to do – and the opposite.
Hedge your bets.
Hedge your bets.
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Brian
Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas
expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or
anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and
email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when
discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog
©2019. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His
writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.
This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the
top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best
resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America.
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