Consumer-centered marketing

Seth Godin lists what every good marketer should know - and I’m pleasantly surprised to see such a consumer-focused approach.

Perhaps it would be naive to think otherwise - after all, Seth Godin is the champion of Permission Marketing, but somehow the interests of the consumer all too often seem steam-rollered by the corporate mindset that insists that company interests (revenue & profit) must overcome consumer interests (product/service satisfaction).

After all, was it really that long ago that you were stood in a store faced with sales staff who were either dismissive, uncaring, or completely ignorant of your needs as a consumer and human being?

Consumer-focus has always seemed like the most common-sense approach to sales in the first place, so it’s good to see Seth pushing the issue with a concise list, that includes:

• Conversations among the members of your marketplace happen whether you like it or not. Good marketing encourages the right sort of conversations.
• Making promises and keeping them is a great way to build a brand.
• Marketing is the way your people answer the phone, the typesetting on your bills and your returns policy.
• You can’t fool all the people, not even most of the time. And people, once unfooled, talk about the experience.
• People all over the world, and of every income level, respond to marketing that promises and delivers basic human wants.
• Living and breathing an authentic story is the best way to survive in an conversation-rich world
• One disappointed customer is worth ten delighted ones.

There are more, of course, but the core message is simple - respect your consumers.

It should be common sense - but as all too often we experience in the real world, too many businesses don’t appear care much for that.