Photo credit: Daniel K Cheung @danielkcheung
In 5 words or less, how do you define marketing?
I’m guessing most would say, “Selling more products,” or “Getting more clients,” or “Building a brand.”
And while those aren’t necessarily wrong responses, I could argue those answers are merely the byproducts of marketing.
My favorite 5-word definition is: INVITING SOMEONE INTO A STORY.
Marketing:
Inviting someone into a story.
The right story at the right time can change someone’s life, or at the very least solve one of their problems.
Stories carry power. It’s why Netflix is worth $106 billion. A story builds a bridge to someone and invites them to consider a...
New Idea
or a
Set of Beliefs
or a
Relationship
or a
Community
or a
Product or a Service
Marketing is about value being exchanged — and that doesn’t always require money.
Look at marketing not primarily as an exchange of money, but rather an exchange of value.
I recently found a successful Twitter account that shouldn’t be successful (at least in my mind).
It focuses on a stinky subject: sewage. Or to use the more professional term, “Wastewater Management.”
It’s the Twitter account for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, and somehow they’ve grown it to nearly 35,000 followers.
But how? Why?
It’s because their message is both fun and educational. They use memes, photos, and humor to celebrate wastewater management and the role it plays in our lives. Over time, they’ve built a fabulous feculent fanbase.
Hey, when you make poop interesting, you deserve a slow clap.
If a sewage division can tell great stories, what’s our excuse? Every business, organization, and movement has a story (or many).
But the secret is finding it.
That means digging. Once you uncover your unique story, tell it to the right people at the right time and in the right places.
It’s the engine that drives marketing.
And I’m not just talking crap.
About Me
Hey, I’m Brian, co-founder of Genie Jar Digital. Born a Tar Heel but now a Virginian, I’m a father of five and the husband of one amazing lady. My family has a thing for Golden Retrievers. Given the right circumstances, I can do a mean moonwalk on a slick kitchen floor. I recently released a young adult novel called The Jungle Within.
