The Biggest Marketing Secret Revealed
We’re about to uncover an often disregarded marketing secret. This article might feel more like a rant, but it’s something I feel strongly about, and I am interrupting a very lovely Saturday bath to write this. Inspiration hits when it hits.
A dear VP of Marketing friend of mine told me recently that the magic was gone. She’s at the marketing helm of a household brand. You likely have something from them right in your kitchen.
I was shocked. With all the money, resources, talent, and creative blank slate at her fingertips, how on earth could the “magic” be gone?
After a heart-to-heart, the answer became apparent to us both, and I would love to share the key takeaway with you in this article.
Hopefully, the following 1000 words or so will help make you a better copywriter, a better marketer, and a better salesperson.
The Bland, The Stale, & The Data
Let’s double back to my friend’s problem for a second. It’s a shame she felt that the magic was gone. Marketing is the perfect discipline for a creative person with sales & business savvy but doesn’t necessarily want to be a “business person.”
Why did the magic die?
We reviewed some campaigns. Nearly all of them were born from a decision by committee. Not only that, the Slack huddles were filled with hubbubs about the data and analytics driving the creative decisions.
Now stop for a sec. I’m an SEO, and I, too, value data that drives creativity. But I make sure to leave room for inspiration in the resulting creative.
In my friend’s case, years have gone by where a siloed view of the data created campaigns that were totally bland. They were frequently repurposed and, over time, became very stale.
And worse: homogenized with competitive campaigns.
My most important two cents for her came from this part of our conversation…
Land Rovers, Love, & Sales
For those of you who know me well, I’ve been a Land Rover guy for over half my life. I’ve taught 4×4 instruction in Land Rovers. I’ve been a part of Tread-Lighthly and other eco-adventure campaigns with Land Rovers. Land Rover’s have saved my life, the lives of those I love, and the lives of customers.
When my kids were born, I brought them home from the hospital in Land Rovers. I engineered, built, and raced custom Land Rovers. For many years, I had a shop in Los Angeles where I restored and sold them as a one-man operation. The old-school Land Rovers, though. I saw just about everything from 1948 to 2004. That era was may jam.
As a purist, I favored “the real” Land Rovers and found myself very resistant to selling the new ones. Yes, I landed at a Rover dealership several years back after we moved from LA to enjoy some nomadic family adventures before settling down.
Worse still, there were modern versions of the worst Land Rover ever: The Freelander. The reskinned version was now called the Land Rover Discovery Sport. A compact, down-market product designed to… well… capture those looking to spend a little more for something nicer than a Honda Pilot.
Yuck.
But I had to pay the bills. And I had to move past my sales presentations that were definitely bland and stale for that model. Sliding into one was offensive to the soul that had spent so many years mixing blood and oil with real Land Rovers. I hated these brand imposters.
What did I do?
I had to get over myself and realize that even though the Disco Sports weren’t for me, they were for someone. Someone was coming to get their first Land Rover and was really excited about it. I certainly understood what excitement for Land Rovers was all about, so why did I have to tarnish that experience for the next guy with my snobbery?
Ultimately, I had to find something to love. I really had to dig with the Disco Sports, but I found something.
At the time, it was the only model in the fleet to have a wireless charging dock. Imagine that. A $55K turd vs. the $150K flagship Range Rover and it was David who had the stones.
And then what happened?
I became the sales leader for that particular model month over month because I became super excited about that fact. I had found something to fall in love with, and all of my product presentations became about the sheer awesomeness of an exclusive feature belonging to the cheapest vehicle on the lot.
The Marketing Secret That Applies to Writing & Sales
If you are a copywriter or a marketer who doesn’t think you’re a salesperson, you are in the wrong business.
If you’re involved in advertising, in just about any aspect, you are in sales.
If you don’t like that fact, Starbucks is always hiring, and you’d do well to clear the field and let the rest of us do what we love to do best, which is drive business growth.
As I near the end of my rant, I’m looking for a way to extract the gem so you can apply it to whatever it is that you’re doing:
- If you’re in sales, Find a feature to love. If you don’t, the customer never will. And with you as the frontline of product presentation, that yucky feeling will be felt by the consumer, and you’ll lose the conversion.
- If you’re a writer: I find that most copywriting is crap, even among those with copywriting training. Copy samples feel more like homework assignments existing for their own sake. Don’t be that copywriter. Yes, SEO matters. Yes, the foundations of copywriting matter. But stop for a second. Do you know what the buyer stands to gain with the product you’re writing about? Can you find something to love about the product? Those may be the only two elements you need to really create something that drives the sale.
- If you’re a marketer, You have a lot of pressure on you. Appeasing the board, the C-suite and your GSC account is a lot. And then come the requests from (and often finger-pointing of) the sales teams. Do yourself a favor and stop for a second. Look up from the digital curtains we sit behind. Find something to love about your product line. Look at the features. Look at the benefits. Get some feedback from the sales and CS teams. What do the customers love? Is that something you can love?
Why Love is The Lost Ingredient & Marketing Secret
Maybe it’s the hopeless romantic in me, but a life (and ad campaigns) without inspiration and passion is pretty darn boring. Love and relevance to this article: Land Rovers are the vehicle for me.
A bit of indulgent brand imagery & association here, but having the ability to chase an ever-receding horizon with total confidence & courage is important to me. To do it with a sense of luxury and distinction is also important to me. It will be forever.
So, when I look at the work I do now, I recognize that this kind of impact is important for all the brands I represent. I would hate for my clients to suffer because the magic dies within me.
We’d all do a little better, I think, if we step back and add a little more love to our lives and our work. Find me on LinkedIn. Let’s talk about more marketing secrets. I would love to hear from you (see what I did there)?
