The Secret of “Us Marketing”

Have you ever walked into a store and knew within the first minute that the salespeople were working on commission? 

I know I have. And I hate it. Every single minute of it. 

Actually, if I’m being honest I hate feeling pressured into making a purpose so intensely that I will do an instant complete 180 and walk right back out again. Even if I was there for a specific reason I was there and had already decided to buy something. 

You probably already know why situations like this happen… 

People don’t like being sold to. 

Plain and simple. We love to buy things but we want the choice to feel like our own. 

So, what’s happened over the past several years is selling, in general, has gotten a bad rap. So much so that (honest) marketers feel like we have to put the “non-salesy” disclaimer on everything we do. 

How often have you heard or seen messages like… 

“No hard sales/sleazy sales tactics! Promise! (Cross my heart- like seriously- I’m not trying to sell you…okay I might want you to buy something… but my something is different…promise)”.  

I mean, that’s a bit over the top, but you get my point. 

We are so afraid to come off as sleazy salespeople that we feel we have to proclaim that we aren’t like THEM. (Insert image of the slicked-back greasy-haired car salesman in the bad suit) 

But the problem is as soon as we put our aversion to selling at the forefront of our argument, we’ve instantly positioned ourselves apart from the people we are trying to build a connection. 

It becomes a maneuver, a negotiation. Us vs Them. 

With marketers (or business owners) on one side trying to convince the other side that…

#1 We aren’t the big bad wolf and 

#2 The thing we’re selling is different/better. 

So what’s the problem with selling aversion?

It doesn’t have to be that way.  Marketing and selling can be (and really always should be) a win-win situation. 

It doesn’t have to be about us trying to get something from them. 

It’s about how your business- the service or product you sell- will help your prospect build a better life. 

“Okay, great but how is that different from what I’m doing right now?”

Oh, I’m so glad you asked 😉. The difference is that when you approach your potential client/customer from an aversion to being “salsey”, what you’re actually doing is putting yourself on the defensive right away. 

Instead of opening up a nice conversation and building a genuine relationship with this person (which by the way, instantly positions you as the opposite of salesy), you begin by arguing your anti-salesy rhetoric. 

It becomes the very thing you’re afraid of it being- a sales pitch. 

Let’s look for example at Sam’s Cookies. Sam (obviously) wants to sell their world-famous cookies to the masses. But Sam, being the smart person they are, knows that people don’t like being sold to- even if it means they get delicious cookies. 

So Sam decides that instead of developing an email campaign with any type of sales argument, they are going to send simple emails with only the pictures and names of their best-selling cookies. 

Sam believes this method will allow people to decide for themselves if they want to buy cookies. And Sam can build their cookie empire guilt-free! 

Win-Win right? 

Nope… what actually ends up happening is that people simply ignore those emails, sending them all to the trash. And if Sam continues to send cookie pic after cookie pic, they are going to alienate the very people Sam is trying to connect with. 

Because by just sending pictures of your products with short descriptions you’re not building a relationship. When there’s no relationship those emails come across as just another advertisement for a nameless company. 

Another example of this can be seen by businesses that put up “value content” day after day. Providing unsolicited advice to the masses while speaking to no one in particular. 

Instead, we need to embrace Us Marketing. 

How to embrace Us Marketing 

Us Marketing is selling with the purpose of building a relationship first. Sometimes this is also referred to as Human to Human (H2H) marketing. 

The main focus of this type of marketing is building a relationship with your target audience so that people will start to KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST your business. 

Because getting people to KLT you is the first (and biggest) part of the battle. You don’t need to convince people (or sell people) on things they already want. You need to convince them that your business is the best place to get it from. 

You differentiate yourself, not by convincing them that you’re product/service is superior but by showing them that it’s coming from a business they already trust to provide them with superior products and services. 

Do you see the difference? 

By focusing on relationships, you’re building a long-term connection with people. This long-term connection will actually lead to more sales over a lifetime. 

Think about common household brands. Let’s say, Colgate (the toothpaste). Is Colgate actually superior to its competitors? Well…probably not. Toothpaste is toothpaste. Really as long as you’re brushing properly for the correct length of time any brand is going to clean your teeth. 

So why do people who buy Colgate continue to buy it month after month? Even if there’s another equally good brand on sale? 

Well, they know, like, and trust the brand. They know exactly what they are going to get every time they buy it. They trust in the consistent taste, texture, and effectiveness of the toothpaste. 

Because they KLT the brand, all the other factors become secondary. 

The difference between big household names like Colgate and your brand is that they have spent decades perfecting their marketing strategy to get to the place where they are now. Where they can simply put their products on the shelf and the name will sell the product. 

Your mission - if you choose to accept it- is to start building the same level to KLT with your brand. 

This doesn’t happen by sending out beautiful pictures of your products or by blanket content marketing trying to cast the largest net possible and see whom you end up catching. 

It only happens when you build a targeted multi-channel marketing campaign that’s geared toward a very special person (note the use of the singular, person). Not a group of people- one person whom you talk to daily. 

Tell them about your journey. Your struggles. And yes about the special things that set you apart from everyone else. The key is to talk to them every day, person to person. Human to Human. 

Market from the perspective of “US”... not you vs them. 

When you do wonderful things will start to happen for your business. (Things like skyrocketing sales and repeat buyers). 

Things like, finally getting the success you’ve been dreaming of. 

Just remember it’s always about us together- with the same goal in mind. To make their life better, easier, richer, more peaceful, etc with the help of your brand. 

If you’re looking to build relationships with your people, I’m here to help! 

Simply fill out this form and I’ll be in touch soon. 

👉 https://bit.ly/creocopy 

Thanks for reading! 

Here for you always, 

Jenn 💙