Marketing is Everything We Do
Recently, I interviewed Dave Loomis in my latest video webinar (check out our interview HERE.) Dave is the CEO of Loomis Marketing, a marketing consulting firm focused on enabling organic growth. I met Dave through a business networking group we are in together. He is a good friend and mentor.
Here are my takeaways from our conversation:
Marketing is everything we do. We can choose to create a personal brand, or people will choose it for us. What you do, how you do it, and why you do it all play a role in how people perceive you. During our webinar, I was drinking a cup of water. Dave mentioned how some people could interpret that action as a sign that I care about my health and am physically active. Whether this is true or not, it proves a powerful point. Every day people are making judgments about us. We can either drive the conversation or sit in the back seat as we watch our brand get driven off a cliff.
Remember the 4 A's:
Assess your personal brand. The assessment phase is focused on figuring out who you are, your key strengths, and positioning in the marketplace. One of the best ways to figure this out is to ask your friends and colleagues two questions; what do you do best, and what is one word to describe you?
Aspire to create the best personal brand. How do you want the market to perceive you?
Articulate the personal brand you are creating. Create a vision statement, tag line, and figure out your elevator speech - a brief description that explains who you are in a short period of time.
Activate it for everyone to see. The first three steps are focused on strategy. The fourth step is all about tactics. How are you going to execute the personal brand strategy you created? Is it creating a website, building a newsletter, or just writing an essay once a week for yourself?
Tactics without a strategy don't get you anywhere. So many people just want to get out there and start producing content and telling people who they are. This enthusiasm is excellent, and it's fantastic to have, but unfortunately, you'll probably end up failing by doing this. Instead, start with finding the one thing you are good at. Don't be a jack of all trades, master of none.
If you want to know why strategy is essential, think about a drink like cola? The first thing that probably pops into your head is Coca-Cola, but did you know that there are over 50+ competitors that make cola. This epitomizes the power of planning and finding a badge.
In law, there is actually a term for this. It's called a generic trademark. In legal terms, "it's a trademark or brand name that has developed such substantial mindshare that the primary meaning of the generic used trademark becomes the product or service itself rather than an indication of source for the product or service." If you create a generic trademark, it means you are one of the greatest marketers in the world.
You don't need the biggest audience, just the right audience. Dave reiterated that no matter what content marketing channel you are using, the most important thing is to find the right audience. This lesson goes back to the strategy point above. First, find the strategy that aligns with the audience you are trying to reach and then execute the tactics to solve it.
For example, Dave is focused on creating a serious tone in his articles that reflects his marketing philosophy. He primarily creates long-form content and publishes it through LinkedIn and his website. His audience is innovation teams at large B2B industrial companies. His audience isn't large, but it's the best audience for Dave and his work. He recently signed a deal through a prospect that found him from a blog post he wrote.
It's okay if you don't know who you are yet, you'll figure it out. In 2000, Dave was a senior director at NACCO Industries, a holding company with $3.5B in annual sales. He was in the marketing space for 15 years and doing very well, but he realized the work he was doing wasn't him. He decided that he wanted to reinvent himself as a product innovation expert. He started his own product innovation group, invited guest speakers, started a conference, and shared articles internally about innovation. One day the CEO of NACCO sent him an email about product innovation, and the change was complete. He was now known internally and externally as the innovation guy.
It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it. Dave said the one word that described him was optimism. The ability to be optimistic doesn't just transform your ability to lead and succeed but helps elevate your teammates around you. Studies show that optimistic people are more successful than pessimistic people.
So, remember, if you aren't creating a brand, the crowd is creating it for you, and you probably won’t be happy with what emerges.