Rare are the people truly loving marketing. Seth Godin, for example. He is one of the top marketers in the world from whom all we marketing enthusiasts seek to learn from and look up to. There are others like him who have found both passion and work in this branch, and lowering down in the hierarchy of marketers there are many, many others very very interested and engaged in marketing as their career.
But what is with the rest of us? What is with the creative hearts, the small business owners, one-man-do-it-all crafters, teachers and educators, healers and dreamers, artists and creators, the heart-led, vision-driven, mission-carried individuals, seekers and believers at the very bottom of the marketing lovers triangle? Do we really need to study economics, marketing and business schools in order to do our creative work and actually make a living? And why does this word, marketing, sound so distant, strange, unattractive for most creatives? Is marketing really all about selling you up, playing tricks and selling nudity for just about anything? Are we being cheated with promises and are we deceived into believing we need stuff we don’t really need? And worse, are we doing the same while showing our work?
What is really going on? What’s marketing really about?
The ugly marketing
Here’s a little intro. When I was studying I used public transportation to get to the university and I would watch commercial billboards all over the city. I was working in an advertising company around that time, specialising in billboards and city lights and I knew all of their locations throughout town. Sometimes the posters would be really clever and witty and sparking emotions. Which is the goal. But mostly, they were absolutely stupid. Speaking to the masses. Low grade humour, if any. Tasteless captions. Consumerism. Sexism.
I remember one time I was walking to my lectures by a big avenue that has 3 lanes in both directions separated with grassy area between them that was filled with billboards. One immediately got my intention. There was a woman in her underwear, fully exposed over the entire board. Her breast vividly filling bra cups, naked belly, beautiful face, light make-up, hair all done, long legs and matching panties. It was a commercial for car tires.
I must have been around 21 or 23 or so and I was thinking to myself - really?? Did we come this low? And I was telepathically talking to the girl or woman I was looking at thinking - did we really come this far for this? Did you really have to do this? Did you really want to do this or was this just another job for you? I was slightly mad at her because of all of her ancestors, and my own. And I was disappointed in the marketing guru who’s brilliant idea this was, the people who approved it and all of those who were taking part in this to come alive. I hated marketing. I hated business. I never wanted to have anything to do with this world. Until I wanted to do my own thing.
Marketing nowadays
Basically, because we are bombarded with senseless ads (especially today in the time of social media) and with low value content on a daily basis, it can be hard for a soulful and small business owner to see themselves in that world and it may seem hard to be putting ourselves out there. Because we were given eyes to see and ears to hear, automatically our senses are turned outward. We’re looking what others are doing and we’re trying to somehow fit into the existing boxes and reshape ourselves, our thoughts, ideas and creativity to fit a certain mold. The one out there. However, honest and genuine marketing for a small business owner starts by turning into oneself and asking some questions. What is it that I really do and why I think it is important for me or others? Why do I want others to see and buy my work, whether that’s product or services? What is inside of me that drives, that creates the desire? What is my why?
Now imagine a small medieval town, some hundreds of years ago. City square on a Saturday morning. All crowded and loud, people walking, talking and mingling. Children running around. Merchants setting their displays to sell their handmade goods. Chickens escaping cages, the smell of sweat, faeces of donkeys and horses, lavender, and sour wine. I haven’t been there, but this is somewhat how I imagine it must have been.
What’s marketing, really?
Now, suddenly you are there with your little herbs booth. You’re selling tinctures and teas, pomades and soaps. Small batches, not branded, not for the sake of Instagram reels, but a real life thing many lifetimes ago. You came to sell it. What would you do? Sit there behind the desk? Probably not, because it took you quite some effort strumming on carts or walking hours to get there from your village a few kilometres away. You would get it out to the market. That’s marketing. Getting your products or services out to the market.
Pomades for sunburned skin! Teas for long night sleep! Tincture for your wife’s double pleasure! Cream for wounds. Soap for your wedding gift! Come, people, you who need this! This is what I do! This is what it’s good for! It’s gone in a little while! First come, first served!
I did get carried away a little bit. I love stories. But here’s another one to remember. Marketing is all about getting yourself (products and services) out to the market by using tools available at the time given. Marketing is about finding the right words to attract the right people who will not only want, but need your offers and benefit from it. Because, there is no point in selling a soap to a donkey. No-one will know. The donkey will not tell others about a great soap they bought. And they will probably not smell nicely even after using one. So, if you’re tenacious about wanting to sell a donkey soap, find their owner and tell them about the great benefit of removing fleas from their donkey with your soap so that they will not bring them inside their house and their wife will be more preppy.
In a nutshell, this is marketing. It’s not about making things up. Know yourself, know your product, know the people who will need it and benefit from it and who will help you spread the word of mouth. To this day, word of mouth is still the best possible strategy. Because, as Seth Godin says, “People like us do things like this”. This is what spreads.
I’ll see you next time. :)
