Conscious Marketing – the path to More Loyal Clients

Conscious marketing – although this week I saw it promoted as Millennial Marketing – is all about using transparency, authenticity and a spirit of cooperation to attract clients or customers that are looking for win-win relationships with your firm.  Why is the featured image that of a peaceful man meditating?  If you need to ask, then this blog is not for you.

If you’ve spoken to even a few people who have recently been marketed to by the average company, you’ve probably started to realize that marketing is broken – that is so far from being conscious (or authentic) – you wonder what people are thinking when they come up wth these programs.

People feel pressured, harassed and annoyed, and are sometimes pushed into making decisions that they later regret. This harms the clients’ well-being, their relationship with the company that made the sale, and sometimes the company’s reputation.

Today, I’m going to reveal four things that are wrong with traditional marketing, and why we use a better model, known as Conscious Marketing.

Traditional Marketing Problem # 1: Too much focus on instant gratification.

In many marketing campaigns and sales presentations, there’s a strong focus on instant gratification, both for the company and the consumer. The company wants money NOW, and they try to get their audience to want their products just as immediately, whether or not they truly need them.

As a result, the customer is often pushed into making a snap decision that they might regret later.

While quick action is a good thing in some contexts, making an impulse purchase out of fear, scarcity or peer pressure when they should have taken the time to think the decision through is not.

This kind of purchase often ends with the customer feeling dissatisfied, or even resentful toward the company that pushed them into it.

Why Conscious Marketing is better:

Conscious Marketing puts the needs of its customers first. It focuses on making sure that the purchase is in the customer’s best interest, and that the arrangement is a win-win scenario for everyone involved.

Customers are tired of having products pushed on them. They want to deal with honest, caring companies that have a heart and a positive purpose, and that care about serving their customers and stakeholders instead of just their pockets.

Traditional Marketing Problem 2: People are pushed into overextending themselves.

How many people do you know who are deeply in debt, overextended in both time and money, and overweight? This is partly a product of our “gotta have it now” society, and traditional marketing only exacerbates this trend.

Many companies will try to convince clients that their programs or products are worth going into debt for, even if they aren’t. Promises of an ROI that justifies the expense often go unfulfilled, and people are left struggling under the financial burden they’ve been pushed, persuaded or manipulated into creating for themselves.

These companies treat their clients as a means to an end, trying to make a sale at all costs, regardless of whether the customers truly need their product.

Why Conscious Marketing is better:

Conscious Marketing focuses on the customers’ needs and desires, promises only what the company can fulfill, and helps the customer to make informed decisions about whether or not to buy instead of trying to push them into an impulse purchase.

Traditional Marketing Problem 3: It’s everywhere.

Unless you’re a homebody with no TV and a really good ad-blocker installed, you can hardly make a move without encountering advertisements.

These ill-placed ads, positioned to interrupt people while they’re trying to do something else, lead to frustration and annoyance on the customer’s part, and can actually make them like your company LESS.

Why Conscious Marketing is better:

Conscious Marketing focuses on giving valuable information that clients actually WANT to see, in places where they want to see it, instead of intruding on them when they’re trying to do something else.

This means the people who see your promotional materials pay more attention to them, like them more, and have more positive feelings toward your brand.

Traditional Marketing Problem 4: People are overwhelmed by it.

According to Red Crow Marketing, most Americans are exposed to around 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements each day – and that was in 2015! The number might very well be growing.

As Carolyn Tate, author of Conscious Marketing: How to Create an Awesome Business with a New Approach to Marketing, points out, consumers are tired of the constant interruption and push of marketing and advertising.

Many have learned to mostly tune it out, which means traditional forms of advertising are becoming increasingly ineffective and unwanted.

Why Conscious Marketing is better:

In Conscious Marketing, you figure out what information your clients want to see, where they want to see if, and how to give it to them in a way that’s welcome and wanted instead of intrusive.

By creating videos, articles, and other educational materials that answer questions that are weighing on their minds, or that give them information they’re actively looking for, you encourage the people who want you to come to you, instead of pushing yourself on people who aren’t ready or interested.

By practicing Conscious Marketing, you create a loyal following of people who love to promote you.

Conscious Marketing targets and attracts people who need you and are a great fit for you, and this shows in your relationships with your clients.

Clients who are attracted through conscious marketing will be happier with their purchase, more loyal, and more eager to share both your great service and the valuable information that attracted them to you in the first place.

This approach works for both multinational corporations and cash-strapped small businesses alike, and I strongly encourage you to try it.

Do you need help to start or improve your Conscious Marketing, so you can get more loyal, grateful clients?

I’d be happy to help you. If you are already convinced that conscious marketing makes sense to you, then fill out our signature brand audit and I wil review your answers and we can discuss options for you in a free call or face to face meeting.  If not, like our Facebook Page and we will promote future conscious marketing blogs to your newsfeed. Also, please feel free to comment on this post if you have ideas on how conscious marketing techniques can help you with your business efforts.

 

We also have a free gift for you – simply click on the image below and we will send you an eBook on how you can take seven steps to the creation of conscious marketing for your business.

 

Image Credits – Adobe Stock