Are you marketing or selling?
Updated: Jan 8, 2021
The word 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 made me feel 🤢 .
It makes us freeze, pause and pushes us away from growing. I know some people are naturally good at it, but girl- that person is NOT me. For those of us that aren't natural sales-people, there's hope!
*️⃣ 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐬. 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 *️⃣ Do you know the difference?
Selling is the attempt to create a sale of a product or service.
While marketing includes selling, there's a 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆. Marketing is the attempt to build a 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 with the target audience. It's not solely about a sale. It puts the client before the cash. And when you have THAT perspective, when you're marketing your product, service or idea, you're focused on 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 them not 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 to them.
How do you market and build that relationship with your audience? 𝐀 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝. It create connection and incorporates YOU into what you DO. Marketing cannot effectively be done without one.
And to have a successful personal brand, we need to take a look at the content we're creating for our audience.
Is your content 𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 or 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚙?
Here are some mistakes we make in our marketing through content
1. We focus too much on ourselves.
2. We only post our product or what we're currently promoting.
3. We post just to post with no roadmap.
4. We write vague content.
5. We don't know who our audience is so we just throw content hoping it will stick somewhere.
Been guilty of any of those 🖐🏽 (Girl, me too!)
🌟 Here's what our marketing 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 do 🌟
1. We talk about ourselves(because that's what t personal brand does) but we bring the content back to our audience.
2. We show our product or service, but also serve our audience through education tips, behind the scenes, or inspiration.
3. We have a content plan and know where we're headed.
4. Our content has clarity.
5. We are clear on who our audience is and we write content for that audience.
When we focus on writing quality content, we are consistently marketing, not selling. And people want that connection and value that we're offering.
ᴛʀᴜᴛʜ- You're not going to be right for everyone.
But, you're also not going to be right for everyone 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓌, and that's where personal branding (𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧) come in.
The connection points that you decide to include in your brand become like breadcrumbs you continually place in your audience's mind. 🥖
𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒾𝒸𝑒.
They may not be buying, at least now, but you're invested in the long term relationship, not just selling.
And when they're ready, or someone they know is ready, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇. They will remember the little breadcrumbs you've placed along the way, the little facts or nuances that are a part of your brand that stuck and connected with them.
So keep placing your brand breadcrumbs, keep connecting and building the 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖 relationship.
Because we're MARKETERS, not a saleseperson.