Are any of these statements “so you”:
– Ugh, marketing is my least favorite activity of building a business
– I know that I have to do marketing but I really don’t enjoy doing it
– I wish there was some way I could just do what I love and create cool stuff without doing all the marketing bits
– I just want to outsource all marketing so it’s not my headache
If you’ve said any of these statements to yourself, you’re not alone. Millions of women (and sometimes men!) all over the world regard marketing as a necessary evil – something they don’t enjoy but recognize as an integral part of being an entrepreneur.
I’ll tell you a little secret. Even though I’m a marketer, I hate being pushy. Or salesy. Or spammy.
Thankfully – for both you and me – marketing doesn’t have to be pushy at all!
In fact I think most people confuse marketing with selling.
The job of sales is to sell for money and profit.
The job of marketing is to build awareness, connections and relationships.
When you look at it that way, marketing doesn’t seem to be such an evil thing, does it?
In today’s video I’m going to show 7 ways you can build genuine connections and authentic relationships without ever having to feel like you’re doing something icky!
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Okay, so now it’s YOUR turn. I want you to tell me in the comments below which of these qualities do you naturally have and can bring to your marketing arsenal? Tell me!!
Video Script
Is Marketing Icky?
Question from Sarwat: How can I promote myself without being pushy? I’m the author of a book on parenting and people often come to me for advice but I’m just not comfortable with being salesy and promoting myself.
Sarwat, what a smashing question and I totally hear you. Women, especially, dislike in-your-face marketing and we don’t want to come across as being spammy, or salesy, or too promotional. That just seems a bit icky for us and it’s often not in our comfort zone, so we don’t like it and we say stuff like “this is not who I am”.
BUT guess what!
Marketing is not about being promotional all the time. Marketing is about building relationships. And woman are great at relationship building. In fact 90% of all marketing activities are ideally centered around helping people. And helping people is something women are terrific at and it comes naturally to us. So I’m sure when someone comes to you with parenting questions and you help them, you feel good about yourself and they walk away having learned something and begin to trust your advice. So it’s a win-win!
7 Ways Women Are Natural Marketers (without even realizing it!)
I’m going to go so far as to say that women have some natural qualities that actually make them better marketers!
Let me explain:
1. Women are Great Listeners
Ever been in an argument with a man where you say: “you never listen to me”. I have. So have millions of women. This is because we tend to want men to listen in the same manner as we do. When women listen, they put aside everything and really concentrate on giving their undivided attention. Women know that half the problem is solved by the other party feeling that their opinions matter.
And in marketing one of the greatest skills you can have is to be a good listener. Because in order to market, you need to be able to listen to your audience and make them feel worthy, make them feel that you care. And also, listening is very important when you want to stay abreast of current trends and issues in your industry. So be a better marketer by listening “with bigger ears” 🙂
2. Women are Naturally Collaborative
Marketing is not a singular activity unconnected with other parts of your business! To be a great marketer you often need to collaborate with others – both within and outside your business.
You’ll never hear a woman say: “I can only work alone”. Even though we like our quiet space and our creative time, when it comes to teamwork, we love projects where everyone is a part of something bigger. Whether women have to work alone or within a team, they have a tendency to bring people together using their natural collaborative skills.
3. Women are Often Language Oriented
Marketing is pretty much about effective communication. Those who can communicate ideas well across the virtual world and within the constraints of the medium have the power to be understood.
Women are often great at writing, blogging, copywriting, grammar, and email. These skills carry over well into the social media marketing world where the nuance, tone and messaging of every word is magnified in importance.
4. Women are Community Queens
Marketing is largely about managing a community of people with a common interest. The skill of a great community manager is in bringing people together in a way that everyone feels included and special.
Women are especially warm and caring and like to include people in activities. They are great at reaching out, helping someone and making them feel a part of the community. They build relationships and bridges and therefore make natural social networkers.
5. Women are Efficient Multi-Taskers
From blogging to community building to trouble shooting to designing to listening to analyzing to testing – a marketer sure wears a lot of hats.
Women – used to juggling their lives between work, home, kids, family, friends, relatives, careers, and more – just adapt well to the frenzied world of social marketing. They are great at making schedules, to-do lists, being organized, and managing time and projects.
6. Women Are Aesthetically-Inclined
Increasingly, marketing is a visual medium. Brands know that they must have great design interwoven into their online marketing efforts to attract eyeballs and instant interest from people who are flicking through their devices.
Women have always had an eye for design – for the intricate detail that makes or breaks visual harmony. Even if they don’t do all the design work themselves, they can supervise and instinctively know good design when they see it. Why else would Pinterest be dominated by women with great taste?
7. Women are Top Sharers and Referrers
Some of the best marketers are also the people who can spot trends before others. They set the tone for what’s going to be in and what’s on it’s way out.
Women don’t just spot the trends; they make trends. When a woman discovers a great restaurant/babysitter/shoe designer/caterer/hairdresser etc, she’s quick to share the discovery with her friends. Women genuinely enjoy letting others know about their latest finds and the next hottest thing in town. What could be a more natural inclination for a marketer to have than to be a sharer and referrer of products and people?
Summary:
So Sarwat, there you have it! 7 reasons women make kick-ass marketers and none of them have to do with in-your-face promotion. I’m a firm believer that if you speak authentically and put yourself out there consistently and help as many people as you can, your fans will do the promotion for you 🙂
Now, I want to hear from you. Which of these qualities do you naturally have and can bring to your marketing arsenal? Tell me!!
As always, if you want to keep receiving videos that make marketing a no-brainer and non-icky, be sure to subscribe to receive a weekly video + exclusive discounts straight to your inbox.
Join me next Wednesday for more Content Marketing Tips 🙂