It’s not about the marketing

Does good marketing insure success? No it doesn’t. Companies need to have substance and a personal connection behind their marketing claims. Mr. Ken is certainly enjoying a connection with his Easter Peep donut! It’s hard to see, but there is a little pink Easter Peep nestled in the donut hole.  As cute as that is, I am not going to write about miniature Peeps today.

Most of my projects start out with a client wanting a super marketing plan. Their sales are down; they want to increase revenues; and the list goes on. They think if they just had some great marketing their problems would be solved. If it were only that easy. For these companies to be successful, they usually need to solve some basic business problems first. This is a tough sell to them though.

Two recent experiences really brought home the point that a company or a person’s success isn’t just about how they present themselves to others. It’s about connecting with people. You may or may not know that I am a reviewer for Amazon. I love doing it because A. I love to write and B. I get lots of cool, free stuff to review. As I have moved up the reviewer ranks, I am getting more and more outside requests to review products. I just had some wonderful interactions from Tom Ma from Protégé Beauty and Joanna Elkayam, Founder of Refresh Skin Therapy.

Here are three reasons why their approach is so successful:

1. It is personal.

The emails from both Tom and Joanna made it clear that he had read my Amazon profile and knew the types of products I wanted to review. They had also had read several of my reviews. Joanna even commented on the Boston connection. After reading their nice emails, I was intrigued and definitely wanted to listen to what they had to say.

Contrast this with some all-too frequent emails I get that read something like this:

“Dear [NAME] (yes, this is actually how it reads!)

As a top Amazon reviewer we know that you will be interested in reviewing our diaper product. Blah, blah, blah.”

Where to begin with this? I normally don’t get past the salutation. And diapers? Really, no where in my profile or my review have I ever mentioned baby products.

2. It builds trust.

Both Tom and Joanna thanked me for agreeing to review their products. The products were sent out quickly and I received them in two days. Wow, talk about fast service.

3. It follows up with good products.

Needless to say, the Protégé Beauty products are top quality. I am happy to review and recommend them. And this all started with a nice email from Tom.

I just received the products from Joanna and I can’t wait to try them! Based on the great customer service from Joanna, I am sure that the products will be of the highest quality.

Now this is not just about companies wanting to sell their products. This advice can apply to folks looking for a new job or wanting to advance their career.

Have you had any experiences, good or bad, with marketing?

Photograph of Mr. Ken was taken by yours truly. 🙂