“This Is Marketing”, written by Seth Godin
Seth Godin is one of my favorite marketing gurus. He has a number of best-selling books, several great TED Talks, and a daily blog that attracts millions of followers. His most recent book, “This Is Marketing”, provides a most insightful overview of the state of marketing for businesses large and small.
Here are just a few of my favorite takeaways from the book:
- Godin starts off the book with a short and simple definition of marketing: “Marketing is the act of making change happen.” What changes are your marketing efforts causing? More customers? Better customers? Better customer experience?
- “All effective marketing makes a promise.” Some people may call this their brand. What promise are you making to your customers in your marketing today? Better value? Peace of mind? Ease of doing business?
- What about the size of your market? Godin suggests the following, “Begin with the smallest viable market. What’s the minimum number of people you would need to influence to make it worth the effort?”
- Godin suggests to the reader that there are two types of marketing: Direct Marketing which is action-oriented and Brand Marketing which is culturally-oriented. Which one are you using? Direct marketing is far easier to measure and determine a ROI. Brand marketing requires more patience as it may take much longer to see results.
I enjoyed reading this book as it reinforced much of what I currently believe about marketing today and it also challenged a number of core beliefs I have about small business marketing.