"You can't be seen until you learn to see." - What does this bestselling author say about marketing?

Monday: MicroBusiness and Marketing Marvels FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON: Happy first day of the work week, everyone! We hope you all had a great weekend. Here’s a dose of inspiration from today’s “Marketing Marvel.” Each Monday, we feature these kinds of people and discuss their work, insights, experiences, and contributions in the business landscape. Today, we’ll talk about a brilliant writer and marketer who has published 18 bestselling books. His daily blog is read by millions, and his tips on marketing are a must-know. Keep reading to know more about our featured “Marvel” and his foundational principles on marketing. May you find his tips and insights interesting and helpful! CEO, MBO Partners Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute

"You can't be seen until you learn to see." - What does this bestselling author say about marketing? Seth Godin: The “Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age” “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” - Heraclitus, an ancient Greek philosopher Change is the only permanent thing in the world. Whether you like it or not, all things are meant to undergo transformations and there’s nothing you can do about it. The same concept applies to the world of business and marketing… Think about this: What your target market finds appealing before might not be as appealing to them now. The marketing strategies that worked well for your brand before might not work well now. These show that as seasons and trends change, consumers’ preferences change as well. That is why as a business owner or marketer, you need to have a strategy to adapt to shifts and transitions effectively. Here’s one of the people who have interesting advice regarding an ever-changing business landscape: Seth Godin! Godin is known as the “ultimate entrepreneur for the information age.” He wrote around 18 bestselling books on marketing, advertising, business venturing, and leadership. These include: Permission Marketing (1999) Purple Cow (2002) The Dip (2007) Tribes (2008) This is Marketing (2018) The Practice (2020) He earned a degree in Computer Science and Philosophy from Tufts University and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. He founded the companies Squidoo and Yoyodyne, and in 2013, he became 1 of 3 professionals inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame. Godin currently runs altMBA, an intensive, 4-week online workshop designed for high-performing individuals who want to level up and lead in their careers. “You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See” Many industry professionals look up to Godin as a marketing guru. After all, his expertise involves guiding marketers and business leaders… and he’s been doing that for over 2 decades now! In fact, Gerardo Dada, a marketing strategist at The Adaptive Marketer, says Godin is “the author everyone has to read, no matter what kind of marketing you do.” Why? It’s because Godin believes effective marketers don’t make noise. They make the world a better place through powerful marketing that is grounded in generosity, empathy, and emotional labor. He discussed this in his book, “This is Marketing.” “This is Marketing” is a foundational book on business and marketing. Unlike Godin’s other published works that focus on only one topic per book, this one covers a wide range of topics—from the rationality of buyers to the adoption cycles. Simply said, this book discusses the core of marketing—what it is all about and what marketers should be all about. There’s more! “This is Marketing” also encapsulates all of Godin’s wisdom in one tome. It includes the core concepts of permission marketing, and other important topics from “All Marketers are Liars,” another one of his bestselling books. [Permission Marketing: A non-traditional marketing technique that only advertises goods and services to consumers when advance consent is given.] Let’s take a look at some of Godin’s insights in the “This is Marketing” book: What is Marketing? “Marketing is the generous act of helping someone solve a problem. Their problem. Marketing helps others become who they seek to become.” - Seth Godin In the book, Godin makes a distinction between bad marketing and good marketing. Bad Marketing: This is all about creating hype, interrupting customers, pressuring them to do what you want them to do, and scamming them to buy a product or service they may not need or want. Good Marketing: This is all about helping customers and making a positive force in the world. Here, marketers try to understand their customers’ worldviews and connect with them authentically. Through these definitions, Godin emphasizes that marketing is a force of change. He believes marketers can only be effective and successful if they contribute a positive change in the lives of their customers and in the world in general. Empathy and humility are necessary to understand customers. “The only way to make a difference is to truly see and understand the people you seek to influence.” This concept is at the core of the “All Marketers are Liars” book. Here, Godin discusses that many marketers sell on facts and features while many consumers buy on emotions and beliefs. While there’s nothing wrong with selling using facts and features, he says marketers should also learn to add synergy, magic, and memories into their collaterals. This will help them appeal to more customers and attract more prospects. Another good attribute of marketers is humility. Godin explains, “It is not helpful to imagine that everyone knows what you know, wants what you want, [and] believes what you believe. The way we make things better is by caring enough about those we serve to imagine the story they need to hear.” Godin also suggests marketers should stop thinking about their target market as simply customers and start thinking about them as students. Why? It compels marketers to consider what consumers want to learn, what they want to become, and what they want in a product or service. This makes a brand’s offerings customer-centric. Marketing success includes 5 important steps! In “This is Marketing,” Godin provides a roadmap for successful marketing. It consists of 5 steps, which are: Product - Invent something worthwhile. According to Godin, good marketing requires a good product—something that solves a problem that hasn’t been solved before. Focus - Find people who will particularly benefit from and care about your product. Godin reminds marketers to not try to “please everyone” and instead, focus on a certain segment of the market. This will increase their chances of succeeding in their marketing strategies. Story - Develop a story that matches the narrative and dreams of a specific market segment. Godin says brand positioning and stories should be aligned with customers’ worldviews and their feelings of belonging. Spread - Make your story comprehensive, unique, and easy to share. Godin says the only way to do this is by understanding how consumers operate in their daily lives. Show Up - Have confidence. Godin states it’s important that marketers create a lasting impression through their marketing collaterals. They have to show up consistently, lead their “tribe,” and build upon their success. Applying these steps will enable marketers to conduct marketing that is both rational and emotional. This will then capture customers’ attention and compel them to act on a brand’s call-to-action. — As the world continues to change, your brand positioning and the promises you make would have to evolve too. However, simply repositioning your brand for a new reality won’t do; you also have to demonstrate your new positioning. According to Godin, one of the changes you should prepare for in the future is a slowing down of consumption. This means more than earning profits, you have to take care of the promises your brand makes and take meaningful action. His other advice? You have to be market-driven and not marketing-driven! A marketing-driven brand is run by the Marketing department. It revolves around what marketers do. Meanwhile, a market-driven brand is driven by what consumers want. It prioritizes its target market’s demands and preferences more than what the Marketing department feels like doing. Keep Godin’s marketing insights in mind! By applying them in your next marketing strategy, you’ll not only successfully adapt to changes in the business landscape but also establish genuine connections with your target market and be a positive force of change in the world. “Possibility is where you find it. We each have more to offer than the world expects. And growth is something we’re capable of, as soon as we’re committed to seeing what we can contribute.” - Seth Godin Hope you’ve found this week’s insights interesting and helpful. Follow us on LinkedIn?. Stay tuned for next Monday’s Marketing Marvels! “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for!” Learn more about P.T. Barnum on next week’s Marketing Marvels!