Great marketing has always been “social”

Harvey Firestone sold a lot tires to Henry Ford (who sold a lot of cars).

No great revelation that the rise of Facebook, Twitter and other social media forever changed the practice of marketing.  The principles and best practices, however, are steadfast.

For the really great brands and merchants who have always done well by their customers, the tenets of great marketing and selling remain intact: treat people with the utmost respect, offer a product that delivers great value, follow up with great service and never take your customer for granted. This has been cornerstone of success from time immemorial. The so-called best practices of social media today–cultivation of one-on-one relationships, transparency, conversation, etc.–were at work when Harvey Firestone was selling tires to Henry Ford and the pharmacist at the corner drugstore had personal concern for his neighborhood’s family health.

Autodesk changed the practice of architecture but the principles of structural engineering didn’t change.  And the principles of effective marketing are same in the era of Zuckerberg as they were in the time of Gutenberg.

How marketers can make their words sell their products

If you can’t get excited about what you’re selling, you cannot sell it

There’s nothing mysterious or magical about good writing for marketing and sales.  The bad news is that it’s hard work.  The good news is that just about anyone who is literate (and has the time) can do it — providing that what they write contains three essential ingredients:

1.  Above all, a product or service that delivers measurable value.

2. A passionate and palpable belief in the benefits your product or service delivers.

3. A no-less passionate belief in what you’re saying.

If this sounds like the secrets of successful selling, it’s because it is.  Writing for marketing and sales is nothing more or less than marketing and salesmanship in print. Or in pixels.  A sales professional who is less than excited about the product will never cut it.  Ditto for marketing people assigned to a product  in which they have no belief.  If you are genuinely excited about your offer and what it represents to customers, the excitement will shine through. It cannot help but breathe life into your words and inspire the interest of the people reading them.  And you can hold the exclamation points.

(This post appeared here earlier today.)