I just read Seth’s Four Words blog. I read him religously.
Today, he defined great marketing in just four words- “Make big promises; overdeliver.” – and then (loosely) challenged his readers to do so in fewer words.
While I very much agree with Seth’s definition and approach, I think he omitted an integral part of what should define great marketing – the conversation with your customer. Without that conversation, you’re marketing blind. So I’ll go ahead and try to define great marketing in less than four words:
“Ask. Overdeliver.”
Clearly, I stole the “Overdeliver” piece from Seth. I buy it. The more you can overdeliver, and do so regularly, the more evangelistic your audience will be about your brand.
The “Ask” part refers to the conversation with your audience. If you’re constantly talking to them, asking about their problems, discovering their challenges and learning about their desires, you’ll be in a fantastic place to create a product and message that will overdeliver on these needs and desires.
And if you have these conversations regularly and overdeliver with great products and services, you may not need to make big promises. Your audience should do that for you, and that word of mouth is the ultimate marketing success.
Posted by markshedletsky 