Authentic Marketing & Why It Matters

Have you ever heard marketing like this:

"Call within the next 20 minutes, because we can't do this all day."
"This products is so great, it sales itself!"
"What is it gonna take to get you to buy today?"
​"Our prices have never been lower!"

Cringe..... ugh, don't these just make the pit of your stomach hurt?  It doesn't have to be this way.  There is a way of communicating with your customer that is authentic and heart-centered.  

Many entrepreneurs that I know often struggle between doing marketing that feels good (but doesn't work) and doing marketing that works (but doesn't feel good).  

Let's begin by exploring just want marketing is.  Merriam Webster Dictionary says that marketing is: "the process or technique of promoting selling, and distributing a product of service".  Okay, that doesn't sound bad in and of itself.  Wikipedia says that marketing is: "the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market."  Hmmm.  That actually sounds like a good thing.

If you're an entrepreneur, you want to be of service. You're in the game to meet a need.  If that is true, you must be able to tell your clients about how you can do that.  Imagine for a moment, a scenario where there was an incredible product or service that could truly help people, but because the company had no comfort around marketing, people continued to suffer.  That would be tragic indeed. 

You have something to offer.  You've put blood, sweat and tears into bringing your product or service to the marketplace.  If you want to honor all of the effort that brought you to this point in your journey, you must market yourself.  It is your duty.  So really, marketing is about meeting a client's need and honoring yourself & your creation (your product or service).   Those are two authentically beautiful things that I can totally get behind.  

Marketing is about communication, and communication is one of my all-time favorite topics.  The root of the word "communication" in Latin is communicare, which means to share, or to make common (Weekly, 1967).  Communication is defined as the process of understanding and sharing meaning (Pearson & Nelson, 2000).  I love the way that feels... "the process of understanding and sharing meaning".   Mmmm, that feels good.  Let's explore that deeper and discover how that relates to marketing.  

Process refers to a dynamic activity, this means that in marketing is about both you and the prospective client.  Many of us perceive marketing as chasing someone down and pressuring them, or forcing them, into purchasing our product or service. When we look at it more as a give and take, a relationship, a dynamic activity - than it begins to take on a different look and feel.  

Understanding is to perceive and relate.  In marketing, this means that we are holding prospective clients as able, we are trusting them to know their needs and make their own decisions.  It means that we are sharing ourselves, our gifts, talents and our expertise.  It means that we are genuinely curious, and that we don't have an agenda for the other person. 

Sharing is the cornerstone of good marketing.  I love vocabulary.com's definition of sharing: to use it or enjoy it with others.  If you have a product or service and you approach a possible client from a heart of wanting to enjoy it with them, that is an expansive place to start.

​Meaning is what we share through communication. In marketing, it is helping the client understand why what you have to offer is important, useful, and provides purpose.  

It is possible for you to develop a positive, rich and beautiful relationship with marketing.  Marketing doesn't have to be icky or cringeworthy.  It can be an act of self-care, an act of service, it can be playful, and it can connect you with your tribe.  Marketing is just another skill and one you can master whenever you choose to. 

For more on this topic, check out the work of Tad Hargrave, founder of Marketing for Hippies, Ethical Marketing for Uncertain Times (I love the work this man is doing!) and Mark Silver, founder of Heart of Business, Inc.