Marketing for the 21^st Century

If your marketing is ineffective it’s not all your fault.  Marketing in the 21^st Century has made a paradigm shift.  The most significant shift is that what was once a one way conversation between businesses and consumers is now a two way dynamic conversation not only between businesses and consumers but also between consumer to consumer.

This is why social media is exploding on both sides of the isle.  Everyday 350,000 people create a new account on Facebook, the biggest group being 50+.  Twitter doubles every 90 days.  And the average person reads 6 blogs a day.   Social Media is the embodiment of marketing in the “information age”.

“It turns out that marketing is really about two things.  Talking and listening.  For a long time though, marketing was about just one thing – talking.”  Seth Godin, “Small is the New Big”

So the standard operating procedures of the past simply don’t apply today.  But we’re not starting over from scratch.  So before we throw the baby out with the bath water let take a look back for a minute to see how we got here and what we want to take along as we move forward.

A Brief History of Modern Marketing

In the 18^th Century prior to the industrial revolution products were  produced one at a time and sold and marketed locally.  While some goods were distributed widely it was on a limited basis.  You certainly didn’t eat fruit in the middle of winter that’s out of season and has been shipped from Chile where it’s summer.

In the 19^th Century – “Hello Industrial Revolution”, machines begin to replace repetitive manual operations.  You can now produce a lot of products that appeal to a large group of people and we are producing and advertising “mass market” products.  Bigger is better.

Now that we’re doing fewer menial tasks, we can spend time thinking about how we’re going to make our average mass produced products interesting, different, and appealing to the “masses” through marketing.

So in the 50’s and 60’s along comes the golden age of advertising where clever marketing messages and ideas are the big advantage.  Remember plop, plop – fizz, fizz or the Charlie the tuna’s “Chicken of the Sea” jingle?

Voila we have interruption marketing where big brands interrupt what we’re doing and talk at you during your TV show, radio program or reading your favorite magazine or newspaper.

And we’re a captive audience switching the channel or not paying attention is difficult because the unlimited number of media choices, channels and platforms we have today don’t exist yet.

Seth Godin’s “New Marketing” in the Millennium

But things have changed a lot since then.  At the turn of the century we are living in the “information age”.   And we are now faced with what Seth Godin cleverly calls “New Marketing”.

We are no longer willing or have to be interrupted by advertising.  We can easily switch the channel.  Or better yet we can record our programs and simply pay to skip the pesky ads altogether.

Today we have new tools to communicate with each other.  The power in marketing is now in the stories we tell to each other.  A recommendation from a trusted friend or even a friend’s friend holds far more influence than a scripted message from a business talking at us about what we’re supposed to feel, want, need and consume.

In fact, it’s easier than ever to ignore and dismiss those messages they’re an imposition and unwelcome.  After all you’ve gotten 20 new posts in your Facebook feed in the last 10 minutes and those messages are from people you know, like and trust.

So with this latest shift you, the business, don’t control your brand image or marketing messages.  You are no longer pushing your marketing messages on to the consumer.  Consumers are sharing their experiences and telling their version of your story to each other.

The days of the old school Mission & Vision that was supposed to be an inspiring statement that expressed the essence of the company is long past.  Instead of telling a great story they tend to be overworked, boring and without any depth of meaning beyond the words themselves.

So What’s a Business To Do?

Tell a great story, about you, your company, your customers, your products/services, and what’s in it for the customer.  And they better be authentic, compelling and interesting.  The old adage “facts tell, stories sell” has never been more true.  The more unique and compelling your products/services are the easier it is to tell great stories; stories that we want to share with our friends.

When your stories are compelling, inspiring, interesting, and exciting enough for us to tell the next guy, that’s when two way conversations begin.  And your ideas spread and your marketing is done for you and by a trusted source.  This is how your marketing creates relationships and becomes “viral”.  Because we now have the tools to make this happen it is the most effective way to market your products today.

Why the New Big is Small

Products and services that are mass produced and mass marketed have to appeal to too many people to be very unique or compelling.  Just about anyone can produce an inexpensive product and service.  It’s no longer remarkable and certainly not interesting enough to talk about.

Seth Godin’s book, “The New Big is Small” is a collection of stories that illustrate how products/services that are unique, remarkable and special are worth talking about.  Granted your stories may be heard by a smaller group of people especially at first, but these enthusiastic fans have the power to turn your small remarkable idea, product or service into a big hit.

How You Build a Businesses Has Changed Too

Because small is the new big how we create and build our businesses has also changed.  The big conglomerates of the 80’s are long gone, they didn’t work.  The business model wasn’t sustainable.

Picking a niche and having a core focus is vital.  I recently heard someone describe it as the difference between fishing with a net and fishing with a pole.

We’re still “fishing” but in a more precise and granular manner.  We still need the usual marketing basics: a brand, target markets, ideal customers, products/services and a unique value proposition.  But these are far more personal and specific than ever and each one of those has a story to tell.  An ideal client is not, “Anyone with a _________.” Or “Anyone who ________”.

It’s easy to get caught up in the new technology and look for the answers there.  Remember, these are just tools; you still need to build a strong marketing foundation of the basics.  But how you build that foundation and of course how you implement your marketing is different.  And you must be willing and able to test, track and tweak your marketing efforts often.

Testing, tracking and tweaking are not new ideas, but now they must happen more often so that you can be nimble and flexible.  Business and marketing continues to change at a very rapid pace.  I suspect the pendulum will settle a little at some point but don’t get too complacent when it does, because the only certainty is that things will change again. It’s just a matter of how fast.

Moving Forward

So take a look at your business and marketing from the perspective of the remarkable.  How can you be remarkable in your business?  What story are you telling?  It may your products/services, it may be how you deliver them, it may be how your customers experience them, and it may be discovering something your customer aren’t getting and giving it to them.

Never forget the customer is still king and now they’re in the driver’s seat.  Everything you do is for their benefit.  Think about what they want not need, there is a difference, and give it to them in a remarkable way.  Tell great stories they already want and in some ways expect to hear.  Create relationships with them; help them create relationships with each other.

Most importantly have a plan so you know where you are, where you’re going, and when to make adjustments along the way.  A plan that includes the how, what, where and what’s next of your great stories is the key to effective marketing that makes money not costs money.

STARTING JULY 27TH – the Get It Done Marketing team will take you trough a 3 month training that will help you build your marketing foundation to market in the 21st century.

You will learn tools that you can use over and over again to continue to create effective marketing as your business grows and evolves over time. At the end you become the Chief Marketing Officer of your company to make more money than you spend on your marketing.  Visit the Marketing Training Page for More Details

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Corrinda Campbell, July 2009

Corrinda has over 20 years of marketing experience in a variety of businesses including corporate, not-for-profit, small businesses and is an entrepreneur.  She also has her M.B.A. from the University of Southern California.

She helps small businesses make money with their marketing.  She and her partner Rebecca Blackwell conduct trainings to help business owners get their marketing stories and systems right for today’s New Marketing.

Corrinda’s specialty is online marketing for small business owners having created and marketed her first internet products in the late ‘90’s.  The solutions she creates helps business owners take control of their online marketing and not get caught in the web but make it work for them.

GetItDoneMarketing.com

BusinessConnectionNetwork.com

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