This is Part 1 in a beginner’s guide to marketing, but it’s not for just anyone.
It’s specifically for people who don’t like marketing.
Maybe you’ve tried it before and it didn’t work (or you don’t even know if it did or didn’t). Maybe you’re suspicious of marketers (fair) and aren’t sure there’s any real expertise behind it at all anyway.
Or maybe you just think it’s too expensive, or you’ll never have the time resources you need to do the marketing or advertising you believe is required.
And I bet, to some extent, you find the whole thing exhausting to even consider. Are you supposed to be networking? Grinding away on social media, like LinkedIn? Are you supposed to be on TikTok or churning out YouTube shorts every day? Are you supposed to run huge ad campaigns, like Google Search ads or billboards?
Where would you start, even if you wanted to?
Here. This newsletter is where to start.
Because none of your concerns are wrong, none of your questions are trivial. You’ve struck upon the hard problem of marketing:
How can you make sure it can work?
Because, ultimately, most marketing doesn’t work because it never could.
We talk to the masses, instead of to individuals. We underinvest where we need to, and overspend where we don’t.
Because we’ve forgotten, or never knew, what marketing is even supposed to do. Which isn’t to push, to convince, to cajole, or persuade.
But to demonstrate our value at a distance.
So the people who we can help the most see themselves in what we do.
Let’s break this down into its pieces:
- First, you need to know who you’re uniquely suited to help.
- Then, what your actual value to them is.
- Finally, you need a mechanism for demonstrating that value, getting feedback on how it’s received, and iterating and improving over time.
Because marketing doesn’t really “fail,” it usually just stops before it had a chance to work.
So, if any of those above pieces are missing, your marketing won’t work, and you’ll just stop.
Not because you didn’t try hard enough, didn’t spend enough, or didn’t want it enough.
But because it couldn’t.
If you’re not yet familiar, the way we at Kelford Inc. navigate those requirements is with our Marketing Rangefinder.
In super short and simple terms, it’s just a way of grouping your prospects by “Distance.” How far away from your business are they, mentally, emotionally, and metaphorically?
The goal then becomes, not selling in the moment, but moving them one step closer at a time.
FAR: They need you but don’t know you. So you need to provide them with information that shows them you do what they need.
CLOSE: They’ve heard of you but haven’t bought yet. So you need to show them how you work so they know you’re aligned with their values and priorities.
HERE: They’ve bought or are buying. So you need to be super curious about where they experience your value so you can overdeliver on it.
CONNECTED: They’ve worked with you before. So you need to shape what they share with others by reminding them of the value they received before.
Beginner marketers may have an impulse to just say what they do and leave it at that. Or worse, to make some sort of unsubstantiated promise.
“I’m the best in the world at xyz thing” is less than helpful. It feels like a lie because it provides no evidence.
Whereas, “Here’s how I work and why it works for my clients” feels like the truth because it’s specific and falsifiable.
The difference? Instead of talking about what you do, you show it. You deliver a little bit of value by demonstrating it.
Basically, you provide a sample of how you work, so they get a taste of what it would be like to work with you directly.
The obvious objection is, of course, “But if I show them how I work won’t they be able to replace me?”
That’s a good instinct to have, but think about it this way: If someone merely saw you working, would they be able to replicate it completely?
If so, that’s not a marketing problem, that’s a value and process problem. If what we do is truly a unique mixture of our experiences, our skills, and our interests, no one will ever be able to fully replicate us.
If what we do is truly unique, then showing it off, demonstrating how it works, and giving people a taste of it working for them is exactly what we need to do to promote it.
It’s that simple, and every bit that difficult.
But it’s neither impossible nor mystical. It’s just a process.
And this is where most marketers get stuck. They see their prospects as a cohort, a crowd, or a vague and fake persona.
And they see their value as the ultimate output of their work. When, in fact, our value is demonstrated throughout our work, in every interaction.
So if you’re beginning your marketing journey, remember this:
Value isn’t what you do, it’s how you do it and who you do it for.
In Part 2, I’ll show you how to demonstrate that value at every distance.
Kelford Inc. is the marketing team that’s never at a loss for words. If you’re struggling with what to say and where to say it to attract ideal clients, we’ll show you the way.