What is your idea of marketing? If you think it’s merely promoting a product and persuading people into buying it, think again.

Marketing Hall of Famer Seth Godin believes marketing should go deep into what your customers believe in, identify as, and the narrative they tell themselves when they purchase your product or service.

Episode 492 of The (award-winning) Small Business Big Marketing Show is a stimulating conversation with Seth, as he explains why marketing is work that matters for people who care.

I guarantee you'll get fresh perspectives and inspiring marketing advice from this episode. Make sure to tune in to find out the truths about marketing and how you can be successful in it.

About Seth Godin

Seth Godin is an author, entrepreneur and most of all, a teacher.

Seth is an entrepreneur, best-selling author, and speaker. In addition to launching one of the most popular blogs in the world, he has written 19 best-selling books, including The Dip, Linchpin, Purple Cow, Tribes, and What To Do When It's Your Turn (And It's Always Your Turn). His most recent book, This is Marketing, was an instant bestseller in countries around the world.

Though renowned for his writing and speaking, Seth also founded two companies, Squidoo and Yoyodyne (acquired by Yahoo!).

By focusing on everything from effective marketing and leadership, to the spread of ideas and changing everything, Seth has been able to motivate and inspire countless people around the world.

In 2013, Seth was one of just three professionals inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame. In an astonishing turn of events, in 2018, he was inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame as well. He might be the only person in both.

Seth’s riffs on marketing for small business

What is marketing?

‘Marketing is the generous act of helping someone solve a problem—their problem’.
It has to do with whether you have earned trust and attention by making a promise and keeping it.
‘Marketing is work that matters for people who care’.
Marketing is the story that you live and being able to identify who it is for.
‘Marketing helps others become who they seek to become’.
It is not advertising, and it is not concerned with trivial hype.

Some of Seth’s important ideas

What you need to do is to matter, even if only for a few specific people.
You should have empathy for customers and strive to give them what they need.
‘Price is the last refuge for the marketer who has nothing better to say’.
Your goal should be for your past clients to be confident in vouching for you.
‘The magic of a small business is not to pretend that we're a big business that got shrunk. The magic of small businesses is to embrace the fact that we don't need to be Walmart to be happy’.
If you figure out who your base is, you need to make things for that group of people.

Standing out VS Being remarkable

Standing out is easy to attain, but it won't give you the following you seek.
‘Being remarkable means that the people you care about will talk about you to other people you care about, and they'll talk about you in a positive way that causes forward motion’.
Being remarkable is self-cleaning and self-limiting.

The right marketing attitude

Don’t become selfish and cut corners because that becomes a problem.
Don’t try to persuade people to go to you. Instead, make sure that enough people are already going to you regardless.
It’s all in the belief in the product and not the product itself.
What story are you letting people tell themselves?

Social media marketing

Remember that you are not the customer. You, your data and your attention are the product.
Buy attention only when you have to; earn and treasure attention when you can so it doesn’t cost you.
What your audience wants you to do is to lead them and connect them.
Stay true to yourself by not conforming to the feedback of people whom your content is not intended for.
There is no such thing as authenticity. Everyone is playing a role.

Resources mentioned by Seth

Seth on Facebook

Seth on Twitter

This is Marketing by Seth Godin
Purple Cow by Seth Godin

This week's Monster Prize Draw winner

Wayne Stanbrough of Runnymede Fire & Safety.

Top 5 SEO tips for 2020

SEO expert and founder of Melbourne-based SEO agency Meeum Sam Hemphill offers these 5 tips for getting found on Google this year:

Write your content like a human, not a robot
Optimise your website's loading speed
Install Google Analytics then measure, analyse and fix what it's telling you is broken
Seek reviews and testimonials
Seek opportunities for website collaborations

Grab a copy of SEO for Australian Small Business here

And here's the links Sam Hemphill mentioned to help with your SEO:

Measure site speed with GT Metrix
Also measure site speed with Google Pagespeed Insights
Measure, analyse and fix with Google Analytics, HotJar and Google Search Console
Seek out reviews and testimonials especially from Google My Business, as well as any other testimonial opportunities in your niche like Facebook, Yelp, TrustPilot and TripAdvisor.

In case you missed the last three episodes

Episode 491
Selling secrets of mater door-to-door salesman Chandler Smith

Episode 490
Multiple revenue streams have created a 7-figure business for swimming coach Brenton Ford

Episode 489
Proven business growth strategies from one of Australia’s best founders

Episode 492 sponsor

This mind-expanding episode 492 of The (award-winning) Small Business Big Marketing Show is brought to you thanks to Your Ultimate Marketing Resources List.

Thanks also to Charley and the team at Valher Media for putting this episode together.

If something in this episode of Australia's favourite marketing podcast piqued your interest, then let me know by leaving a comment below.

May your marketing be the best marketing.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/marketingpodcast

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 97: Publishing from all sides with David Roche