Marketing 101: Miscommunication

December 16, 2014

My definition of marketing is, “The management of perception“. As we dive into driving awareness to our businesses, our focus must be on what perception we are creating.

Perception: Immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation, as of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities. Insight; intuition; discernment. What a person feels or believes about a product is actually more true than the truth itself.

Here are a few ways you should consider making sure your brand is communicated effectively. Thus, making sure that you are in charge of your perception.

1) Create Positive Associations – Never allow your company name or your brand to be placed in conjunction with something that does not represent a positive value. I had a client one time who was convinced that buying bus stop signs was more valuable than billboards. Due to traffic patterns. After thousands were spent and the advertisements were placed, a photo went viral with a vomiting homeless man standing beside the advertisement . This viral photo was seen by millions. This was “poor association” to say the least!

2) First Impressions are the most important and the longest lasting – I know that sounds cliche but it is so true. I can not tell you the amount of times I have done business with someone only once due to the impression that I received. I could quickly rattle off multiple businesses I will never do business with again and they only had one shot at earning me as a customer. The ruined future chances based solely on my initial impression of them!

3) Holding Trust – When a consumer does business with us, we place a commodity in our pocket that has intrinsic value. That commodity is trust. We must guard that item with utmost respect. If we truly value that customer, we will do our very best to keep every promise, and fix every complication that we create!