CopyrightŠ2012 by Scott Stratten. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Stratten, Scott.
UnMarketing : stop marketing. Start engaging / Scott Stratten.âRev. and updated.
p. cm.
ISBN: 978-1-118-17628-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-118-28842-9 (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-118-28841-2 (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-118-28840-5 (ebk)
1. Relationship marketing. 2. Viral marketing. I. Title.
HF5415.55.S76 2012
658.8002âdc23
2011042846
For UnJunior
Introduction
âGood afternoon!â
It was the start of an exchange that would set off a chain of events that would shift my opinion of a billion-dollar establishment with one simple act. Let me explain. It's no secret I âenjoyâ Las Vegas. After going there 15 times in the past four years, I consider myself an unofficial tour guide and resident of Sin City.
A place that you definitely cannot miss on the strip is the Wynnâvery fancy, very pretty, and very expensive. Because the place cost $2.7 billion to build, I assume selling 99-cent hot dogs isn't going to make that money back. I really didn't care about the Wynnânot in a negative way, it just wasn't on my radar. After getting comfortable staying at MGM Grand, The Venetian, and other places, I didn't really see a need to change, until that Saturday.
I had a meeting at the Wynn during the BlogWorld conference. I strolled in through the majestic doors with a friend of mine. As soon as we walked in, we spotted a man (Wes) using a large carpet-cleaning machine. He wasn't in our way, so we really thought nothing of it, but he thought differently. He stopped what he was doing. He looked up and smiled. Not one of those âit's part of my job to smileâ ones, but a genuine, warm, authentic smile. And then he said, âGood afternoon, and welcome to the Wynn, please enjoy your day,â all the while looking us right in the eye, like it was his mission to ensure that we knew he meant business.
His welcome changed my entire perception of the Wynn. Almost $3 billion went into making this megacasino resort, and it was one guy who made me want to stay there. He made me want to tell the world about itâmade me want to blog about it. The carpet-cleaning dude. I have passed hundreds of people cleaning in casinos in Vegas, but I've rarely been given eye contact, and not once felt welcomed. As a matter of fact, I have never, ever been greeted like that by anyone in Vegas. It is wonderful and sad at the same time. This gentleman, who made me feel welcome at his place of employment, was not only exceptional, but he was extremely rare.
Casinos (and probably most of you in business) all have the same stuff for the most part. All accountants offer accounting services, all coffee joints serve coffee, and all five-star resorts have fancy smells, spas, and pretty patterns. But only one resort has Wes.
Marketing is not a task.
Marketing is not a department.
Marketing is not a job.
Marketing happens every time you engage (or not) with your past, present, and potential customers. UnMarketing also takes it one step furtherâit is any time anyone talks about your company. Word of mouth is not a project or a viral marketing ploy. The mouths are already moving. You need to decide if you want to be a part of the conversation, which is why I call it UnMarketingâthe ability to engage with your market. Whether you employ thousands or are a one-person show, you are always UnMarketing. It's what comes naturally, not being forced to do things that make you ill.1 It's authentic, it's personal, and it's the way to build lifelong fans, relationships, and customers.
If you believe business is built on relationships, make building them your business.
That's the one line that you need to believe to UnMarket. If you don't believe that, return the book. Trash-talk me on Twitter.2 Tell me that cold calling is a great tool if you know how to do it right. Just put the book down.
If you don't believe that your business is to build relationships, then tell me that the foundations of some of the greatest businesses in the world were built through cold calling. What worked decades ago does not work as well today, if at all. Getting a 0.2 percent return on your direct mail piece isn't cutting it anymore. Placing an ad multiple times in a newspaper3 because âpeople have to see something seven times before actingâ is a crock.4 You need to return this book if you say, âI don't have time to build relationships online!â and yet will drive 45 minutes to a networking event, stay three hours, and drive 45 minutes back home.
You need to read this book if you've had enough of the old-school ways of marketing and want to believe there is a better way. You are the person who wants to believe that if you are your authentic self, you have no competition. That even though you may have thousands of providers in your industry to compete with, you bring unique things to the table (which you do).
Let's focus on building relationships and still building a business instead of throwing aside those who don't want to buy (Buy or Good-bye) and build lifelong relationships and a profitable lifelong business, today. Being authentic has nothing to do with being cheesy or passive, and you don't have to sing âWe Are the Worldâ and hold hands. Being authentic means that you focus on what you bring to the table. That is what separates you from others in your industry. If you are your authentic self, then you have no competition. I know you have been told to act like other people, talk like other people, and market like all the people, but it is time that you unlearned everything and started to UnMarket yourself.
Notes
1. Cough* cold calling *cough*
2. I'm @UnMarketing, just FYI for a place to point your insults.
3. For those reading this in 2020, newspapers were things that used to be delivered door-to-door by kids initially, then by creepy dudes in vans at 4 AM. They were pages of ads with a sprinkle of articles. I know, weird, eh?
4. I think that phrase was made up by an advertising sales rep. Brilliant.
Chapter 1
Hierarchy of Buying
I surveyed more than 1,000 business owners to ask âWhy do you buy?â See Figure 1.1 for the results.
When the need arises, customers buy first from people they know, trust, and like. The higher on the pyramid you are with your market, the less competition you have. We take it from the top down:
Current satisfied customer: Obviously, people are going to buy from you if they already do and are satisfied. The key term here is âsatisfied.â Even though customers are current, this doesn't mean they are happy.
Referral by a trusted source: The first thing I do when I need something I don't already have is to ask people I know and trust if they know of a provider, which is easy with ...