Interest over advertising — Kelford Labs Daily

The goal of marketing isn’t to convince anyone of anything.

It’s not to find someone who doesn’t want what we’re selling and make them want it. Or persuade them to care more about it.

No, the primary job of marketing is to demonstrate our value at a distance.

To whom?

To the people who already want or need the type of thing we sell.

The marketing funnel has made generations of marketers think that the job is to find people far away from the business, with no awareness or affinity for it, and force them down a narrow path toward a purchase.

But that doesn’t work, because it takes enormous expense to advertise enough times so that people who don’t care, do care. And there’s no guarantee you can ever spend enough.

Certainly not before you run out of budget, or other resources like patience and enthusiasm.

No, the trick is not to promote ourselves to people who have no interest.

It’s to find the people who want what we’re selling and demonstrate to them that we’re the best business to offer it to them. Based on the overlap between their values and priorities and our own.

So don’t ask, “How do I find my ideal clients, way out there in the market?”

Ask: “How do I find people close to me who already want what I sell?”

Isn’t that an easier question to answer?

Reply to this email to tell me what you think, or ask any questions!

Kelford Inc. shows communicators the way to always knowing what to say.