The Unbreakable Rules of Marketing

I just got back from attending a three day conference filled with meeting planners and ways for them to grow their business.  The best session I went to by far was The Unbreakable Rules of Marketing.  It was lead by a local Portland marketer name Cathey Armillas.  Not only did she have some great information and examples to share with us, but you could tell she was passionate about marketing.  I love that!

She shared with us the 9.5 rules that are unbreakable when putting together and executing your marketing plan!  She called them the 9 1/2 ways to get people to love you.  Because that's really what marketing is all about right!?!

1.  Consistency Beats Ability - it is better to be consistently good than to have that one moment of brilliance.  Marketing is all about repetition and getting in front of people as many different times as possible in as many different ways.  But you have to have a clear, simple, easy message that is consistent across the board!

2.  Perception is Reality - Be, what you tell people you are.  It's as easy as that.  If you tell people you have the best product in town....BE the best product in town and don't hold anything back to make that happen.

3.  Be Creative or Die - a pretty good description, but think soooo farrr outside the box, that some might think you are crazy or could never pull it off.  But, prove them wrong.

4.  The Medium is Not the Message - I think people forget this a lot when putting together content for different types of mediums.  It goes back to number 1 that your message should remain the same no matter where or how people see it.

5.  Work Hard to Keep it Simple - She quoted a great quote, that often times get attributed to Mark Twain, but I am pretty sure he is not the one who actually said it.  "I would have written you a shorter letter, if I only had the time."  It is so easy, especially when you have a complicated product or just a lot to offer to try and tell people EVERYTHING about you.  But in marketing, they don't need to know everything.  They need to hear that sweet simple message that will stick with them.  They can go to your website and get as much information about you as they want.  My mom always said, "Keep it simple stupid."  I just hope she wasn't calling me stupid.

6.  Give Love to Get Love - Not only should you be providing people with a quality product or service, but you need to give a little to get anything back.  Just like in social media it is ettiquette to follow someone back on Twitter if they follow you.  Networking, promotions, charity work etc are all things to get you out there, give your brand a voice and gain new fans.

7.  Emotions Rule the World - She shared some statistic about the number of purchases that are completed because of emotions.  Don't just throw a bunch of information at people, find a way to invoke emotions, tug on their heart strings a bit, or get their adrenaline pumping.

8.  Go Big or Go Home - if you are not going to give it your all, or your heart is not in it...pack it up and go home.  You are wasting everyone's time.

9.  EVERYTHING is marketing - branding, promotions, your employees, how your office is set up, your email signature....everything you do at or for your company is marketing and helps to drive your brand forward.

The 1/2 - Know the rules and know when to break them. (genius!)

-Kristen