As a marketer, what do you believe in?
What's the philosophy that guides or differentiates your work?
Those questions may seem challenging at first, but they're worth considering, since you could easily apply the answers to what you do every day going forward. Whether it’s one simple statement or a few basic rules you commit to, a personal marketing philosophy can be a handy tool.
As an example, these are my three philosophies:
1) Always ask the question “who cares?” about anything I write. (Is the target audience likely to find value in my copy or content?)
2) Express ideas as concisely as possible. (Respect the audience's time.)
3) When appropriate - and sometimes when it's not - use humor. (Work to give the audience the memorable gift of unexpected laughter.)
If you're a writer or another type of creative, your philosophy can hone your creation and editing processes. Let it serve as your standard or a “filter” through which you run marketing content. And when it’s well-reasoned and time-tested, you can share your philosophy with clients or members of your team to support the choices you make.
If this is a new or strange concept for you, identifying your core principles may be tough, but don't feel like you need to adopt someone else's viewpoint. Your marketing philosophy should matter deeply to you. You should be able to defend it. Ideally, it'll come to you organically, after you've had enough first-hand exposure to both the good and bad practices of the industry or your specific craft. But you still may need to ask yourself the hard question, "What do I believe in?"
Write down your marketing philosophy. Then, share this blog post with the rest of your team and ask them to do the same type of thinking. Once they have, look for any commonalities in your philosophies. Where do you align? Can your company actively focus on those mutual principles to maximize their impact?
Then, how might harnessing the power of your shared beliefs affect your company culture and morale, your hiring practices, even the customer experience you deliver?
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