What is the Best Marketing Strategy? Giving.

The best marketing strategy is to give, give, give, give, give, and give some more.

Who doesn’t like a giver?

• Want Brand Loyalty? – Give!
• Want Brand Equity? – Give!
• Want Raving Fans? – Give!
• Want Employee Retention – Give!
• Want Client Retention – Give!

But if I always give, how will I get paid?

It is true, you can’t build a business by giving away the farm. I know folks that can’t scale their business because they don’t charge their customers enough for the value they’re producing. However, if you give more than you get, then an increase in rates means you shouldn’t lose your clients. You should sit in a place where if you increased your rates (though your customers may not want you to), your customers would stay with you.

I’ve been waking up each day with the same question at the forefront of my mind this past month:

How do I produce more value today?

By giving you add more value for our company, my colleagues, our clients, our partners, our vendors, etc.

I’ve started becoming obsessed with the concept that if your company isn’t going in the right direction, then you’re not providing enough value to the world.

Think about it. Literally everything comes back to the value you’re providing. You must provide value to everyone! Now you can provide just enough, or you can provide 10% more than everyone else and become a Rockstar in your industry and community. Giving is the best marketing strategy hands down.

1. You must provide value to employees

Value can be a paycheck. I mean that’s why we all go to work right? But it goes beyond that. How about a company that has a warm, welcoming culture that people want to be a part of? Or perhaps a culture that demands their best yet embraces that failure is part of the process. One that claps every time something fails to then ask, “What did we learn?”

Acceptance is valued. Challenging work is valued. Autonomy is valued. Employee Improvement is valued. It’s not just the almighty dollar that influences things…although it’s important, as we all need to eat.

2. You must provide value to clients

In the marketing world, ROI is king. He who produces the greatest ROI is the best marketer right? So yes, while producing ROI is one form of value, so is having a relationship. You know how hard it is to say, “I trust ‘so and so’ with my entire business”? Providing Peace of Mind that you always have your client’s best interest, is value.

We have an acronym called R.A.D. that we talk about at That! Company. We believe it strongly affects client retention rates (beyond just ROI). R.A.D. stands for Relationship, Attitude, and Dependability.

Relationship – If you have a relationship with a client, you not only have trust, but a bond that people don’t want to end. People like doing business with their friends. Which is why I almost always recommend breaking professional standards and becoming more casual with your customers.

Attitude – If you go into every meeting with a client maintaining a great attitude about where you’re going, what you’re doing, and how you’re going to help them dominate their marketplace, that’s contagious! People crave that kind of energy in their lives!

Dependability – If you consistently do exactly what you say you’re going to do, show up on time, and get it done, then you are exactly the kind of person your clients are going to want to work with.

Giving of yourself is the best marketing strategy.

3. You must provide value to prospects

These people don’t know you. They don’t trust you yet. How do I know you’re good at what you do? One of the things That! Company provides for FREE to our white label prospects is a deep dive of their top 2-3 competitors. We then take the time to explain what we see, and how this information could be used to the prospect’s benefit. Sure we could take a standard PowerPoint 101 approach and explain “what” we do or perhaps even “why.” However, we find that getting into the actual data is important to the prospect. We show that we provide real value, and by giving, they see us as valuable and trustworthy.  You see giving again is the best marketing strategy.

Everything Isn’t About a Marketing Strategy – Giving – Just to Give

The best kind of giving is when you give to someone who absolutely can’t give you anything back. Do you give back to your community? Do you offer free training on what you do? I bet the local community college students would like to learn from you. How about the small business association? There are lots of networking events that need speakers. It doesn’t even have to be your target market, but if you help people, I believe it all comes back. How about just taking time with the person who contacts you, but clearly can’t afford your services? Do you give them the time of day, or do you not follow up with your unqualified leads?

Giving just to give, to those that need the help but can’t give you anything in return, is the best kind of giving.

Making Introductions Just to Add Value

Here’s an example of an email I wrote to two of my connections.

Below is an example of a Facebook post I made with the intention of just helping people make connections (this didn’t take much effort at all, but I can guarantee that there were a couple of people who met others that helped them increase their network):

Improve Your Marketing Strategy Challenge

So, I challenge you. How can you give more to other people? I don’t know your personal spiritual beliefs – whether you believe in karma, or if you believe like me that “The greatest among you will be your servant.” Matthew 23:11.

No matter what you believe, I think we can all agree that giving just feels really, really, good. If you don’t love your job, take a moment to look around and see how you can give and make someone’s day. I guarantee you would love your job, even if it’s just for a moment.

Here’s to your giving and your success!

Michael Knorr

VP Marketing Sales

That Company