Marketing Week

Marketing Week, is an Adelaide event running August 22-26 2011.

What a great week we’ve had at Marketing week in Adelaide. The combination of speakers shows how broad and wide ranging Marketing can really be.

It made me think of what happens when meeting a new person and they ask, “What do you do?” I usually think, here we go, as I expect a blank look, and when I do my ‘elevator speech’ (explain yourself in 10 seconds, as if you only have an elevator ride to capture their attention), I always get a blank stare. “Right so you’re into sales?” No and yes, I say. “I’m not sales role, I’m in marketing, where we aim to create sales”.

Marketing week proves that Marketing encompasses many different functions and roles, topics and personalities that presented covering areas such as social media, innovation, mass media, advertising, publicity, viral campaigns, database marketing, the list goes on and on.

And then I try to explain that “It’s not all about me as a Marketer, but it’s about them”. Then they look even more blankly. So I usually round it up with, “It’s about the customer and creating marketing campaigns tailored to their needs.” By then, they have just zoned out and I move onto a new topic.

So for those who still don’t ‘get’ what we do, here it is.

Marketing is all about the customer. Yep that’s it.

Marketing is about your customer/client, it’s all about them. How they live, what they believe, how they behave their fears, their beliefs and what their inspirations are to be. There is a large amount of research out there on the Australian and global consumers and while much of it is interesting, not everything is relevant to your business.

What matters is how they behave and transact with you, and what their beliefs and fears are within your category and brand. So dig for data that is relevant to your business.

So the next time someone asks me. “So what do you do? I will confidently say “Digital Marketing: connecting businesses with potential customers, grabbing their attention and engaging in a conversation to generate business sales for growth.”

Think I’ll still get the blank look after that statement? Or the usual question, “Are you in sales?”

And then I try to explain that “It’s not all about me as a Marketer, but it’s about them”. Then they look even more blankly. So I usually round it up with, “It’s about the customer and creating marketing campaigns tailored to their needs.” By then, they have just zoned out and I move onto a new topic.

So for those who still don’t ‘get’ what we do, here it is.

Marketing is all about the customer. Yep that’s it.

Marketing is about your customer/client, it’s all about them. How they live, what they believe, how they behave their fears, their beliefs and what their inspirations are to be. There is a large amount of research out there on the Australian and global consumers and while much of it is interesting, not everything is relevant to your business.

What matters is how they behave and transact with you, and what their beliefs and fears are within your category and brand. So dig for data that is relevant to your business.

So the next time someone asks me. “So what do you do? I will confidently say “Digital Marketing: connecting businesses with potential customers, grabbing their attention and engaging in a conversation to generate business sales for growth.”

Think I’ll still get the blank look after that statement? Or the usual question, “Are you in sales?”