Marketing Hack: You are always being marketed to, and you are always marketing yourself.

You are always being marketed to, and you are always marketing yourself.

What?!

Yeah.

The first one is obvious. We are always being marketed to. Take a look on the side panel of your screen, and you see advertisement squares. If you use Gmail, you know Gmail conveniently segments your inbox so the Promotions tab contains most, if not all, of the marketing emails you receive from brands, stores, etc.

Notice how these ads make you feel. There are certain people who are driven by FOMO-based subject lines: “Time is running out!” “Claim your seat now!” “Your item is about to sell out!”

And then there are people who are downright put off by them.

Notice which type you are.

What type of marketing resonates with you, makes you actually click an email open and read it instead of trashing it before you even get to the pretext?

Then dive deeper. WHY does this resonate with you? Why did the marketing “work”? Why did you open the email instead of trashing it? Why did you scroll all the way to the bottom instead of clicking off to something else? Why did you revisit it a few hours later? Why did you forward it or screenshot it to a friend?

The answers to these questions hold marketing GOLD. Now, what you discover works on you won’t work on everyone. But you are able to use your psyche to test out these marketing components on a very real test audience – you.

But the second part of my statement is a little less obvious.

You are always marketing yourself (even if you don’t think you are).

Let’s dive in.

You chose clothes to wear today. The clothes you choose to purchase – a specific style, a specific brand – all say something about who you are, and who you’re not.

If you wear jewelry or makeup, or not, that says something about you, too.

Are you clean-shaven or scruffy? Hair meticulously styled or wild?

Do you default to a smile or a blank stare?

The way you conduct yourself in your interactions with others also is “marketing.” Let’s take two coffee shop examples.

You are a kind soul. You hold the door open for someone carrying a bunch of coffees on their way out as you are entering the café. Bless your heart! This small action said to the other person, “I am a nice person! I noticed you had your hands full instead of pretending to be distracted by my phone! I am not a jerk!”

An alternate scenario, at the same coffee shop.

Heaven forbid you are the kind of person who treats wait staff deplorably. Your lack of patience, lack of politeness, and overall rude demeanor just marketed yourself to the barista with a message something along the lines of, “I am better than you! Can’t you tell by the way I treated you? I am more powerful, important, and influential than you, lowly barista! I have no empathy for the fact that you might be on your feet this whole shift, that you might be making less than minimum wage, and that you will spend today making 80 pumpkin spice lattes, until the recipe doesn’t even make sense anymore! I do not care!”

What does this anecdote have to do with marketing? Well.

It is an opportunity to think through the tone of your messaging from a new angle. Is it REALLY saying what you want it to be saying, in the way you want to be saying it?

Does it suddenly sound different, harsh, crass, or some other negative adjective, now that you read it out loud or see it written out?

It is an invitation to inject more empathy into your marketing efforts, and to examine them in that light.

You’ll never know where you next great marketing idea can come from. But you’ll never find it if you severely limit where you look.

Your close mindedness is keeping you small. Open up to a world of possibilities that you haven’t considered before, by simply opening up your eyes and understanding that we are all constantly consuming and exuding marketing cues.

When you work with Golden Hour Media & Strategy, the next great marketing suggestion may come from an unexpected place. But just because it doesn’t come from where you think it ought to, doesn’t mean it can’t be a worthwhile idea to pursue.

Article written by Katie Goldhagen

Golden Hour Media & Strategy ⏳ helps clients expand their reach via thoughtful, tailored marketing strategy consulting. We help firms tell the unique story of their brand, determine what comes next in their marketing and growth strategies, and execute on those plans in a structured & creative manner. Learn more here.