What is marketing for? — Kelford Labs Weekly

Marketing will always struggle so long as we aren’t sure what it’s trying to do.

But I don’t mean what our objective is, our goal or KPI or measurement metric.

I mean what the marketing itself is supposed to do. What it does in service of those goals and metrics. What it does so that we can achieve them.

The question isn’t: What should my goal be?

But: What should my marketing do to reach it?

Today I’m going to simplify the actual purpose of marketing, what the marketing itself needs to do, to get you closer to the goals and metrics you’re trying to achieve with it.

This is what your marketing is trying to do:

1) Discover the customer

Marketing requires research first, and then experimentation. Then, thorough validation.

So marketing’s job is not just to place messages in front of the prospect.

Its job is to find them.

First, our marketing must work to identify the people most likely to experience a struggle our business can help them with. Then, it articulates what, specifically, they’re looking for in their own words.

And it discovers how these prospects actually act, what they actually buy right now, so we can determine if they’re likely to buy what we’re selling, too.

What these prospects say and do is the gold you’re looking for, not a persona, or a set of demographics.

And then, you define how your unique process positions you to provide extraordinary value for that specific prospect, for that specific need.

But how do you find this out, how do you know what your prospects are looking for?

You ask your current customers. Identify the best customers you currently have, learn as much as you can about them, and let that information lead you to more, great customers just like them.

The insight: Marketing isn’t just about speaking, it actually starts with listening to your current customers and letting them lead you to more.

The example: Our very best clients come to us because they’re experts in their field but have found themselves in a situation (like launching a new service, attending a trade show, or struggling to attract a certain audience) where they don’t know what to say to articulate and demonstrate their unique value.

2) Define a single message

Once we know to whom we’re speaking and what they need to know about us, we can define a single message to offer them.

Yes, we can have multiple messages depending on the target prospect and the medium in which we’re messaging, but each individual element of our marketing must focus on a single message.

The dilution principle and the old story about Calvin Coolidge remind us that when we try to say too many things at once, our audience doesn’t hear any of it (or they only retain certain parts).

No, we’ve got to distill what the customer needs and how we uniquely help them into a single compelling statement.

Now, this might not be final wording at this phase, but more of a sentiment, a rallying point.

But before it ever sees the light of day, we need to make sure it’s true, unique, and singular.

The insight: Take some time to think about and articulate what you don’t do. What do you avoid or sacrifice to be able to provide extraordinary value for your very best customers?

The example: We focus just on marketing positioning and message design (we don’t run paid ad campaigns, do technical SEO, or write 50-page marketing paperweights... I mean plans) so we can be the credible best at that one thing in particular for the prospects who need it most.

3) Demonstrate at a distance

Now, we know who we’re looking for and what they need. We know how we’re uniquely able to help them.

And we can articulate it into a single sentence.

Now, we want to demonstrate it at a distance, covering space and time. That’s because we want to appear in the market and in our prospect’s awareness before they have a need, or at the very moment they do.

Remember: We’re not done at this phase. Marketing begins with research, then moves into experimentation, and only then can it be validated. So we have to put our marketing into the market before we’re certain it will work, by being certain it can work.

That includes placing our message on toothpicks, that is, as easy to understand, operate, and sample as we possibly can.

At this phase we don’t want our prospects to have to do work to get our value. No, we want to deliver a little bit of value in the message. Like a sample on a toothpick.

Our message should be obvious about whom it’s for, what they need (in their own words) and how we can (uniquely) help them.

The insight: It’s not about getting our customers to buy the first time they see our message. It’s about making them comfortable enough to get one step closer because they believe we’re credible. And because they can see the tradeoffs we’ve made to be the very best.

The example: Our website used to talk about marketing strategy and marketing plans and all the documentation you get if you work with us. Now it says, “We show experts the way to always knowing what to say.” Guess which has been more effective.

So that’s what marketing is supposed to do:

It’s supposed to help us identify and understand our very best customers, by focusing on our current best.

It’s supposed to define and articulate a single message that shows we’ve made important tradeoffs to be the very best for a specific customer.

And it’s supposed to demonstrate our value, the ways in which we help, by delivering a little bit of value as we do it.

I hope this helps you get closer to achieving what your marketing is meant for.

And I hope it helped to show you the way to always knowing what to say.

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