To Market or not to Market?

There are a lot of companies pushing the idea that you have to constantly market. That you have to constantly send out emails, newsletters, or text promotions. We’re of the other class — only promote when you have something to say. There’s no point in sending needless letters, tweets, or emails. Your customers will get annoyed. If they want information, they’ll come to you, and that’s usually a great place to start.

Look to your customers.

Sometimes, the answers are right in front of our noses. Rather than constantly moving outward and looking for a new way to market, sometimes it’s better to see what the customer wants. Think about who they are and how they communicate. Are they sending you emails? Texts? Tweets? Meet them in the middle and connect with your customers they way they prefer. More often than not, your customers will communicate with you when they need to.

Is old-school better?

We believe that it’s more important to have a well-designed website, engaging newsletters, custom-built designs, and relevant email marketing campaigns rather than fast-blast text messages or a series of pointless emails. Marketing is never something that people want to be interrupted with. We hate sales calls during dinner; we are against most forms of invasive marketing. It’s better to have in-depth content, a well-updated website, and valuable information than to push your ideas in front of your customers’ faces.

When marketing is important.

Sometimes, marketing is a have to rather than a should. For example, if you have a new product coming out, you’ll want to create some ad copy or some web copy. Maybe you’ll send out some postcards. You’ll probably have a tweet or an ad campaign. These are all valuable forms of marketing. But let’s face it. Famous brands didn’t get that way by shoving their products in their customers’ faces. They did it with grace and with ease.

No matter how you market or how often you market, you should communicate with your customers the same way that you would across other mediums. Market smart, brand smart, and reach your customers where they are. Marketing should always be about putting valuable content in a place where the customers can see it and can appropriately respond to it on their terms. Anything else is probably counter-intuitive.