Marketing Doesn’t Have to Be a Dread: It Can Be a Meaningful Journey You Take People On

What do you think of, when you think about “marketing”? Is it something you:

• Dread?
• Want to pay someone else to do?
• Wish you didn’t have to do at all?

If so, I think this quote from Seth Godin’s This is Marketing might introduce you to a wholly more fun and meaningful way to think about it:

You can learn to see how human beings dream, decide, and act. And if you help them become better versions of themselves, the ones they seek to be, you’re a marketer.

—Seth Godin, This is Marketing

Godin’s book is a call to action for people who want to make something meaningful, that improves life. In order to adopt new behaviors, products, or ideas, each of us must go through a process of discovery and trust-building. He invites us to deepen our understanding of how this happens, so we can become more effective at spreading things that matter.

Let’s unpack the three big parts he’s talking about in this quote (and maybe shift our perspectives a little). He says we can learn to see how people dream, decide, and act:

Dream: Without dreaming of something better, we would just sit in whatever situation we are in. But we don’t — we conjure dreams of something better. The ethical thing is to help people dream of something better, that you reasonably believe you can deliver. (In my case, I deliver transformation to purpose-motivated entrepreneurs, that helps them reach their goals faster.)

Decide: Each of us must make countless decisions, all aimed at making the best choice given the information we have. We must respect that whether or not someone wants what we think they should want — it is what they want. For example, when I used to make websites for people, I discovered that what most of them really needed was a marketing strategy. But, “getting a new website” was their way of representing their goal in their mind — they saw it as symbolizing their success, their visibility in the world. “Needing a website” was their presenting issue, so it was an important starting point. Part of my art was to appreciate that, and “yes-and” it, to deepen their understanding of what they really needed.

Act: There is a lot of inertia standing between “that sounds interesting… maybe I’ll buy it someday,” and someone pressing the Buy button. Understanding the factors that lead to an actual “Yes” versus an “I’ll think about it” can mean the difference between a thriving business and a floundering one. Something as simple as putting a call to action in the right place, or making an offer, can be all it takes sometimes.

Each of us goes on journey of discovery every time we buy something — and unless that thing is very inespensive and predictable, there is a time delay between when we first learn about it and when we make a buying decision. Godin’s quote begins to break open some insight into what is really going on here. As we improve our ability to anticipate how people dream, decide, and act, it will help us — and, it will help our buyers. Everyone wins.

How about you — did this way of framing cause you to rethink any aspect of how you think about “marketing”? Let me know in the comments!