// BarryBlog //

A creative dumping ground for issues that interest me personally and professionally, with the thought they may interest you too. Issues such as the business of design, the design of business, the design of objects, design strategy, creative direction, innovation, creativity, thought leadership, observations, as well as recommendations, mid-century modern decorative arts and architecture, and the state of my thinking (and currently the state of my heart).

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Seth Godin: What Every Good Marketer Knows

I rarely talk about Seth. I also very rarely post about anything he says. Why? Well, because everyone else already does.

Yet from the list below, there's no denying why he's so highly regarded. I like his thinking. Always have. Ironically, much of what he has said here I have said over and over in my less-hyped career. But inevitably, people really only listen to this type of thinking when it comes from someone they don't know, or someone named Seth.

So, here's what the marketing guru Seth Godin thinks every good marketer needs to know...

Anticipated, personal and relevant advertising always does better than unsolicited junk.

Making promises and keeping them is a great way to build a brand.

Your best customers are worth far more than your average customers.

Share of wallet is easier, more profitable and ultimately more effective a measure than share of market.

Marketing begins before the product is created.

Advertising is just a symptom, a tactic. Marketing is about far more than that.

Low price is a great way to sell a commodity. That’s not marketing, though, that’s efficiency.

Conversations among the members of your marketplace happen whether you like it or not.

Good marketing encourages the right sort of conversations.

Products that are remarkable get talked about.

Marketing is the way your people answer the phone, the typesetting on your bills and your returns policy.

You can’t fool all the people, not even most of the time. And people, once unfooled, talk about the experience.

If you are marketing from a fairly static annual budget, you’re viewing marketing as an expense. Good marketers realize that it is an investment.

People don’t buy what they need. They buy what they want.

You’re not in charge. And your prospects don’t care about you.

What people want is the extra, the emotional bonus they get when they buy something they love.

Business to business marketing is just marketing to consumers who happen to have a corporation to pay for what they buy.

Traditional ways of interrupting consumers (TV ads, trade show booths, junk mail) are losing their cost-effectiveness. At the same time, new ways of spreading ideas (blogs, permission-based RSS information, consumer fan clubs) are quickly proving how well they work.

People all over the world, and of every income level, respond to marketing that promises and delivers basic human wants.

Good marketers tell a story.

People are selfish, lazy, uninformed and impatient. Start with that and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

Marketing that works is marketing that people choose to notice.

Effective stories match the worldview of the people you are telling the story to.

Choose your customers. Fire the ones that hurt your ability to deliver the right story to the others.

A product for everyone rarely reaches much of anyone.

Living and breathing an authentic story is the best way to survive in an conversation-rich world.

Marketers are responsible for the side effects their products cause.

Reminding the consumer of a story they know and trust is a powerful shortcut.

Good marketers measure.

Marketing is not an emergency. It’s a planned, thoughtful exercise that started a long time ago and doesn’t end until you’re done.

One disappointed customer is worth ten delighted ones.

In the googleworld, the best in the world wins more often, and wins more.

Most marketers create good enough and then quit. Greatest beats good enough every time.

There are more rich people than ever before, and they demand to be treated differently.

Organizations that manage to deal directly with their end users have an asset for the future.

You can game the social media in the short run, but not for long.

You market when you hire and when you fire. You market when you call tech support and you market every time you send a memo.

Blogging makes you a better marketer because it teaches you humility in your writing.

Obviously, knowing what to do is very, very different than actually doing it.

( via the generous Michael at HMK - That's Right! )

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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

A BarryBlog (unofficial) record!

Though not all tallies are in from all 50 precincts, the unofficial number of the comments the vast BarryBlog Network of fans, admirers and haters have generated is zero. Yes, a BarryBlog record, if all the facts check! Zero comments to anything I've posted in a full 7 days.

An impressive feat, and surely an adequate reflection of the time, hard work and resources the infamous Barry has put into the now famous BarryBlog. Blogger newbies, heed my call. Blog I say. Blog until the morning comes and your bills are due, because at the end of the day, the month, the year, or even a decade...

If just one person reads this blog, it would have been worth all the effort.
(photo via: Dan Taylor )

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RESOURCE: Advertising Age Power 150

Advertising Age Power 150 is a ranking of top English-language media and marketing blogs—ranking more than 360 blogs about all types of media and marketing discipline. Click here for background and additional details.

I am SO TIRED OF SETH GODIN. There, I said it.

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