Marketing is not a dirty word

I hosted the first Tasmanian Women in Business Conference on 15 & 16 May 2024 and in today's episode I'm sharing what I shared on-stage at the conference. 

It was an incredible experience to have so many talented speakers on stage and so witness so many connections being formed in the room. 

Many of us shared a similar message on stage, which was really beautiful to see as it was unplanned but obviously it's something that so many of us needed to hear. 

Please tune in to hear what I delivered on stage and I'd love to hear what you thought and what your key take-way was. Feel free to DM me on Instagram with your thoughts. 

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Website: www.newschoolofmarketing.com
Facebook: @newschoolofmarketing
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Instagram: @bianca_mckenzie

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Transcript

Welcome back to the new School of Marketing podcast. I'm so grateful to you for tuning in. Before we dive in, I would love to pay respect and acknowledgement to the Palawa people of lutruwita who are the traditional owners of the land on which my business operates. And I pay my respects to the eldest, past and present. 

Okay, I feel like I have a lot to say. I hosted a conference last week. Seriously, that was the most amazing thing and the most scary thing I kind of have done in a long time. I am not new to events management. I have done it plenty in the past for jobs that I've had, but this time it's very different when you put your own money and your own, I guess, reputation on the line. I don't know, sounds a really, really dramatic when I say it like that, but yeah, like it was my event, not an event that I was organizing for work or something else. It was scary, it was big, it was bold. It was absolutely incredible. It was so amazing, I can't even begin to. Yeah, it was definitely beyond my expectations. So really quick wrap up in terms of the conference. It was a two day conference with ten absolutely phenomenal speakers. It was the first ever tasmanian women in business conference. I know I haven't actually spoken about it much on this podcast at all because I kind of kept it very tasmanian. But it was so incredible. We had, yeah, an amazing list of speakers. Everyone was sharing their wisdom, their knowledge, and I think everyone really got something from it. Like everyone had some takeaways, the vibe in the room, which in a way you have zero control over as an organizer. Like you kind of just, you sell tickets and you try to make an event the way you kind of want it to, but you have no control over how people are going to connect in the room. And that just blew my mind. It was just so many beautiful connections and relationships were formed that I could not have even dreamed that. Like, it was just amazing. So yeah, that conference was incredible. And I didn't really necessarily have plans to do another one, but, and people are already talking about the next one, so I guess there will be another one at some point and I will share about it more now that we've unlocked the incredible talent in Tasmania, I feel like, you know, everyone can come and join us. It is so beautiful. But what I wanted to do is share what I shared on the stage with you, and I wasn't going to, but then the amazing Renee O'Neill, who I have had on this podcast before, who was one of our incredible speakers on the stage, she actually shared her talk on her podcast and I thought, you know what this is, you know, content creation. We talk about this. Why does it need to stay behind closed doors? So here I am. I am going to share with you what I spoke about on the stage. And the title of my topic is, marketing is not a dirty word, which is what I shared on the stage. And yeah, I am going to share that with you today. So let's go. 

I open up saying, people hate marketers. I'm going to let you sit with that for a little bit. So I am a marketer, and I have been a marketer for close to two decades. I've had seven years working for educational institutions across Victoria. I've worked for a number of small businesses, and I have been. And this is like, oh, my gosh, more than ten years as a marketing consultant and Facebook advertising strategist. Now, personally, I have never been subjected to the hate towards marketers, but I know that some of you listening will feel uncomfortable. You might kind of have, you know, that, kind of like, ew, that icky, squirmy feeling in your belly, especially when it comes to marketing your own business. So people either hate marketers or they hate marketing their own business. And there is a general assumption that marketers are annoying and pushy at best, and they can be exploitative and manipulative at worst. I know that is like a big thing, but everyone tends to have some kind of feeling towards marketers. And I've heard people call us, and by us, I mean marketers. I've heard them call us evil because of capitalism and greed. And we're kind of like the car salesmen of the communication world, apparently. And I get it. Marketers can give things a positive spin. And it's just not always easy for a consumer to figure out whether a product or a service is actually good, or if it's just the marketing that is impressive. And I get it. People are skeptical, and you can't really blame them. They've probably been burnt before, so they are wary. And anything that sounds too good to be true is just met with a large dose of skepticism. But marketing is everywhere these days. It is really hard to tune out. You will see billboards on your drive around, you'll hear ads on the radio, you see branding on company cars, you see ads in magazines, in newspapers. You receive thousands of marketing messages in the supermarket and you come across multiple marketing messages on your social media feeds, whether they are paid for or organic. It almost becomes background noise if it's something that you're not interested in. Because we are so bombarded and it is thrown at us from every angle, you do start to tune out certain messages. So how do we as business owners navigate this? Because we definitely don't want to be ignored. And we also don't want to be seen as spammy and manipulative. At least I don't. So how good would it be if we could market ourselves in a way that feels good and at the same time helps us grow our business? And that's really what I'd love to talk about about today. And hopefully you walk away feeling confident and good about marketing your business and with a little less hate towards marketers. The first step is to recognize that marketing is needed for your business. And hopefully that's also why you're tuning into this podcast, because you recognize that marketing is a necessity. It is needed for your business. And as uncomfortable as it feels at times, without marketing, your business will be the best kept secret because nobody will know about it. So you need to work on your mindset around marketing. Or, you know, if you are working for someone else, you might have to work on your mindset in terms of being you as the product. So mindset is a big one, and it's also a tricky one. You started a business doing what you're good at, doing what you love, and you didn't start a business to become a marketer. Most likely I'm making an assumption here, so it can be really hard to trust your instincts and to follow your gut in terms of marketing. And I actually recently spoke with a local business owner who had outsourced their social media to an agency. And nothing bad about agencies, but this particular agency had pretty much stripped it bare of personality. So the Instagram feed looked very fancy, it looked beautiful, but there was just zero personality. And this business owner had taken it back in house and I told him to tell stories and I could just see the relief in their eyes when they received permission to be themselves and to incorporate stories and storytelling into their marketing. And storytelling has been something that we as humans have done for centuries. It is through storytelling that we get to know each other, but we also get to hear and hopefully retain vital information. There's a reason why you can forget a person's name, but you can recount the conversation with them line by line. And it's not because you're rude or simply bad with names. It's because your brain, our brain, is wired to learn through stories. And a little bit of backup here. Studies have shown that telling a story makes information way more memorable. There's a psychologist named Jerome Bruner who found that we are 22 times more likely to remember a fact when it has been wrapped in a story. And Stanford's graduate school of Business found that when people listened to pictures either containing facts and figures or a story, only 5% recalled the statistic, but 63% remembered the stories. So when we apply this to marketing, it simply means that we are using a narrative to communicate a message. And the goal is to make your audience the people that you're speaking to, to make them feel something and inspire them to take an action. And it doesn't necessarily mean that they need to purchase what you offer. Like, that doesn't always need to be the message. But storytelling and marketing helps your audience understand why they should care about something. And storytelling really helps to humanize your business. And let's be honest, telling stories is way more fun than some dry sales spiel that nobody's really interested in. And it can be as simple as telling your origin story or something that has happened in your daily life and maybe a lesson that you learned from it, and then you tie it in for what you offer as a business. And sometimes it pays to go against the grain and share a message that other people do not share. Like it's that unpopular opinion or like, you know, something that you don't, that other people don't do. So, outdoor clothing company Patagonia, they sometimes share messages that many retailers don't, and that makes them stand out. So they actually encourage people to reuse and repair their items, which really ties in with their commitment to sustainability. And you've probably heard me say the words as well, but you probably heard the words authentic marketing along the way. And maybe you wondered what that means, or if it's really just a buzzword, because it does, at some point, things turn into a buzzword. So when I think of authentic marketing, I look at brands like Patagonia and how they are committed to their values and speaking their truths. So focusing on your business's values, its point of difference, and its people can help you create and share an authentic message that relates to your customers needs. So if you're someone who has, like, put in so much time, so much effort, working day and night on, for example, testing your product's effectiveness, then tell that story. If your offer helps people live better lives, happier lives, use stories to to tell how that happens. And a lot of people tend to stop at this makes you happier or this makes you have a better life. But it doesn't tell them the why. So when you connect the why behind what you do and share it in an authentic story form, people will listen. It's just not enough to have a quality product or a service. You really need to know how to talk about it in a way that makes you stand out from the crowd. And that's why brand storytelling is so important. Ask yourself, what do you want to be remembered for? I'm going to repeat that. What do you want to be remembered for? What is the message you want to deliver to your audience, and what do you never want them to forget? And then consider the emotion that you want to evoke in your audience every time they interact with your business. Your audience may forget what you say, but they will not forget how you make them feel. And I also want to add that you need to trust yourself to come up with the strategy and the message that is right for you. You are the one who knows the business best. You know your audience better than anyone else because you started this business from a passion and you saw a need that needed to be filled. I just mentioned knowing your audience, and that is really the next step. Knowing who your audience is is vital to your business success. You need to know who they are, where they spend their time, how they like to be spoken to. And I have spoken about this before, but we call this an ideal client avatar. You probably have heard this before. It basically means that you know the person you sell to inside out. Because if you're trying to market everyone, you're really marketing to no one. So, after tuning in, when you finish with this podcast episode, think about your ideal client. Who he, she or they are. And the easiest way I find to do this is to think about one of your existing customers. If you have them and who they are, why they buy your product, what need does it fulfill for them? And also, think about why you like them so much. Like, are they friendly and outgoing? Or maybe are they quiet and simply get on with things? Are they punctual and, and organized? Do they pay on time and things just feel easy? Think really deeply about why they make the perfect customer. Or if you don't have a perfect customer right now, think about what a perfect customer would be and why. And then on the other hand, think about why they love your business and your brand as much as they do. And this relates back to the previous point, because the people you attract will be buying from you because of how they perceive your brand. Are you actually perceived in the way you want to be perceived? Are you attracting the right customers based on the message you're sending out there? And if not, you need to look at your messaging and your storytelling and figure out how you can attract that absolute ideal dream client. Knowing your ideal customer and what's important to them is like holding a key to a vault. Once you have this information, your marketing will become almost effortless. It'll be like all the puzzle pieces fall into place. Now, I also want to add that it is really important to value their time. Because our ideal clients receive so many marketing messages that they don't care about or that they don't enjoy. We really need to make a conscious effort to create something that is worthy of their time. Their time is the most valuable commodity. So to get their attention and to keep their attention, we need to create something that doesn't feel like an intrusion, but rather something that is intriguing and worth their time. As small businesses, most of our marketing comes from content creation, either for social media, a blog, a podcast, or other long or short form content. When we're creating marketing content for our businesses, we need to focus on pull marketing instead of push marketing. And as the word suggests, pull marketing draws people towards us, rather than us shoving our message into someone's face. Which is what a lot of small business marketers, or not marketers, small businesses try to do, because I think they've lost touch with storytelling and they kind of just go, I'm selling this and here you can buy it. And really, when you're shoving that message in someone's face, it's unpleasant for both the receiver and for you as a business owner, which is usually why people feel so uncomfortable about marketing their businesses. If it feels wrong or it feels icky, it probably is. And you need to think of a way that feels good to you. And that doesn't mean that you never try to actively sell something. Definitely not. But if your current content only focuses on selling, you're probably not getting the response you're looking for. You see, people need to know, like and trust you before they do business with you. And this is especially true for online businesses, where we don't really get to meet the person that we're buying from face to face. And we're all familiar with online scams and we try our best to buy from reputable brands and people we trust because nobody wants to hand over their money to someone that they're not 100% sure of. So your task as a business owner is to share content that helps your ideal customer see you, understand you, like you and trust you. And video content is often the fastest way to build trust. But I also know that it can be the scariest type of content to create. And even though I completely, 100% believe in video marketing and showing your face on camera, I also want to say that you can build a business without it, or maybe until you feel comfortable with it. A few ways to create trust and to show that you're a real business and someone who will follow through is by sharing testimonials and reviews from your customers. And you can do this through asking for reviews on your Google Business profile. You can email them to ask for feedback. You can get on a call with them to ask for feedback. You can get them to record a video for your social media channels. Or maybe there's a different way that you've found that you can use to collect testimonials and reviews. The main point is that what other people think is important to buyers. We want to know that what we're getting is going to match our expectations. Another way to show people that you're a real business without sharing your face on camera is by taking them behind the scenes. For example, you can record a video of you carefully packing an order or setting up, you know, a certain space, or filming your hands while you make a product or share some of your environment and a message for your audience. I don't know if you've looked at my Instagram, but my horse will often feature in my reels or something like that. So there's a lot of ways you can show your product in action if you have a product based business. There are many ways to create video content without speaking on camera, even if you're a service provider and you are the business. But I don't want this to be a content lesson or content idea lesson. So let's move on to what I do want you to take away from my talk. Now that we know that marketing is a necessity for our business and that we need to know who we're actually marketing to and to value their time, the next step is to look at how we can do this in a way that actually feels good to us so that we can consistently keep doing it. And I want you to take this away. Consistency in marketing and your marketing message matters more than the marketing platform or the marketing tactic. So consistency in marketing and your marketing message matters more than the marketing tactic or the platform you're on. I've already mentioned that storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to market your business. And in marketing, there's a saying that facts tell, stories sell. So what way of marketing storytelling actually feels good to you? Or at least feels okay enough so that you can keep doing it? And this essentially comes down to knowing yourself and knowing your strengths. I'm a big fan of personality tests, and you might have done a few. They can come in really handy. In this case, get to know yourself, and in particular your strengths and your weaknesses. And know what lights you up. Know what drags you down. I have found that whenever I listen to marketing advice on what I should do, I may do it for a little while. But if it's not something I enjoy doing or it's something that doesn't light me up, I eventually stop doing it. And as I said, consistency is more important than the platform. So find out what your strengths are, what you're good at, and what you actually enjoy doing. If you don't like talking on camera and you know it's not because of a mindset issue, then don't do that. Don't focus on video marketing. Or if you do want to create videos, because the tech part and the story creation lights you up. Find a way to to tell stories that don't require you to speak on camera. Likewise, if you don't like writing long stories and you prefer talking, then find ways to do that in your marketing. You can choose to start a podcast, a YouTube channel, be a guest on podcasts, run networking events and workshops. You can go on local radio. There are many ways to use your voice to market your business, build your marketing on what you're good at and what you enjoy doing. And the more you know about what your strengths are, the more you can build a marketing strategy to fit in with that. And your strengths are not just your skills or your talents, but they are also your values, your passions, your motivations, and the personality traits that make you who you are. And by identifying and leveraging your strengths, you can create, and I'm using some marketing speak here, you can create a competitive advantage for yourself and your business because nobody is you. You are a strength in a way. And when you find out what your inner strengths are, your personality traits, your passions, your values, your motivations, you create something that is unique and that nobody else has. Strengths help you stand out from the crowd and in a crowded and competitive market, you need to find a way to stand out from your competitors and attract your ideal customers. By focusing on your strengths, you can show what makes you and your offer unique and valuable. For example, if you are a creative and innovative person, you can use your strengths to design and market products or services that solves problems in new or better ways. Or if you're compassionate and empathic, you can use your strengths to connect and communicate with your customers on a much deeper level so that you build that trust and loyalty. Strengths can also help you perform better and enjoy your work more. I love this. People who use their strengths, sorry, people who use their strengths more often are more productive. They're more engaged, they're more satisfied, and they're happy at work. So if you want to be happy at work every day, use your strengths. You can tap into your natural abilities and your natural preferences and you get more done with less effort. You can also find more meaning and more purpose in your work and really align your actions with your values and your goals. For example, if you're a strategic and analytical person, you can use your strengths to plan and execute your marketing campaigns with clarity and efficiency. Or if you're outgoing and social, you can use your strengths to network, to collaborate with others, and in a way, expand your reach and your influence. Strengths really help you grow and improve as a person and as a person in a business. By knowing and using your strengths, you can identify and work on your weaknesses. You can use your strengths to compensate for what is not quite there. Or you can overcome your limitations. Or you can get help from others who actually have the strengths that you don't have. You can also use your strengths to learn new skills, get new knowledge that can help you with your marketing effectiveness. So, for example, if you're curious or maybe a little bit adventurous, you can use your strengths to explore new markets, new opportunities, test new ideas, new strategies. You know, forget what's been done before, do something different, do something new. Or if you're like really disciplined and organized, you can really track and measure your marketing results and use that to improve on things for the future. And those are just a few ways that strengths can help you in your business. And I like using a strengths based approach to your marketing because it actually can increase your chances of success, but you also will enjoy it more. And I think using your strengths to better your marketing is a good way forward because remember, consistency matters more than the tactic or the platform. And if you're using your strengths and you're actually enjoying it. It means that it is easier to be consistent. So get to know yourself more, know what your strengths are and then start to look at marketing strategies and techniques that will fit your strengths. And remember, the main point is that you enjoy it so that you consistently do it. And it doesn't mean that you can never change. Like a few years ago my main content was in the form of a blog, but then I change it over to a podcast. You can definitely change what you do. As long as your message is consistent and you don't change the platform too often, then the next step is to implement it. So up until now, it's all been about discovery, about creation. But you do at some point need to share what you've created. It is time to put your message out there. Trust that you're making the right decisions. The fastest way to find out if something is working and is right for you is to do it. I know it seems really simple. It's because it is simple. We can overthink things all we like, but we won't know if something works until we put it out there. The more you market your business, the more you learn about what's working and how you can refine it based on what works for you and your audience. The best thing to do in marketing is to be yourself, to be authentic, which I spoke about earlier and especially if you're a personal brand, because it is so hard. It's hard work to pretend to be someone you're not. When I first started out in business, I got a photographer to take photos of me in a corporate outfit because I thought that would give me the impression that I was professional and it was too totally not me because I don't wear suits or corporate clothes. And I hated using the photos in my marketing, which meant that I wasn't really marketing my business in a way that was aligned with me and my values. Now my photos are in more casual clothes and they 100% represent who I am as a person because I want my clients to see me the way I am. I want them to relate to me and feel comfortable working with me. And my social media often has my horse or pony appearing posts and occasionally my kids. But they are me. I show me because I am the brand in a way. So it needs to feel good. Marketing to me is sharing what you feel comfortable with in a way that is relevant to your audience. You don't need to share your entire life on social media, at least not if you don't want to. The main thing is that marketing is essential for your business. And if it's something that you're going to spend time on, you may as well enjoy the process and feel good about what you put out there. So take this as your permission slip. To do marketing the way you want to. You have permission to have fun. You have permission to tell stories. You have permission to do it. The way you feel good about consistency in your marketing message is much more important than the tactic or the platform. So do marketing in a way that feels good to you, but do remember you do need to mark it. Thank you so, so much for letting me talk about this again from the comfort of my own desk. 

So this is basically what I delivered on stage and I received a lot of really good feedback about it because I do feel that there are a lot of marketers that say do this way, do it that way. And we are all different. We have different businesses, we have different strengths. We don't feel good about all of the same things. And for us to then hear, oh, if you're not doing XYZ, you're not going to make it in business. That is really disheartening and it is also toxic. I don't believe that is the right message. I believe that marketing is essential. But to do marketing in a way that feels good to you is much more productive and much more successful than to do marketing in a way that XYZ mentor is telling you. Obviously they are in a way trying to be marketers themselves, to telling you that if you don't market the way they do that you're not going to make it. I don't believe in that. I don't subscribe to that. I am all for using our own strengths, doing marketing the way that feels good, using the strengths that we have so that we enjoy it more, so that we are more consistent. I do believe that you do need to market, but I don't subscribe to a right or wrong way of marketing. We are all different people, different neurotypes. Marketing doesn't, it's not a one shoe fits all kind of approach. So that was really my messaging for the conference and I'm really, really grateful that I could share it here with you as well. I would love to know what your thoughts are on it. If you want to connect with me, please do so on Instagram. And yeah, I look forward to go on this journey with you. Thank you so much for joining me and I'll pop some links in the show notes if you want to download some of my free resources and remember to subscribe so that you don't miss any of these episodes. Until next time, take care and market your business every day. Bye.