How to Market on Purpose

A common frustration I hear from B2B CEOs and other business leaders is:

“We’re doing all of these things with marketing and I’m not sure why,” or, “We’re spending all of this money, and I’m not seeing the results.”

All of your marketing efforts should be part of a master plan.

Do you have that plan?

I’d like to share three ways to market on purpose. It might not be what you expect to hear either.

Be authentic

The first thing is to be authentic.

Another meaning of marketing on purpose is marketing for a reason. So you need to start with the meaning, Why are you doing this? Who is your target? What is it that you are trying to do for them with your business?

Your marketing should genuinely be communicating that; you shouldn’t have to make things up. You should be just looking for a way to clearly communicate that true value and that you want to offer.

Be intentional

Another meaning of “on purpose” is “with intention.” The best marketing is intentional.

That means you start with a strategy before any decisions about tactics. That is an unnatural act and it’s not very common for businesses to act on this approach.

First figure out what you need to accomplish with marketing and then decide on the tools that you will use to do that.

Have a reason for everything you do in marketing, which also means you can measure the results because you’ve decided ahead of time why you’re doing it.

Finally, do less, and do it better.

Be generous

This actually comes naturally out of being authentic – marketing for the benefit of your client – and then intentionally driving to achieve it.

What you’ll find as your marketing moves forward is that you begin to give more

and more with your marketing rather than being focused only on taking, or “converting.”

I have found that having a generous approach to marketing – looking for ways to give to your client so they can be better as your primary motive – creates a very natural and powerful attraction from prospects. It also grows customers that last longer, are more loyal and are just better to work with.

Paradoxically, customers that are born of this approach are more profitable than those that arrive through a selfish, “me first” orientation – with what you’re going to get out of it as the primary motive.

Is your marketing a natural result of what you want to achieve in the world?

Or is it more like an empty effort to make money?

Yes, you need to make a profit in your business. But think about how you are marketing. If you have a purpose behind it, if you can find a way to put meaning in your marketing, you will be more successful in the long term.