Haven't heard of Mindful Marketing? You're already behind.
Hi. I’m Alycia. If we haven’t met, you need to know something about me: I’m an eternal optimist. Yes, I know… shocking right? (see how my photo shows me being eternally optimistic?!) I have a belief that if you want something badly enough, it can actually happen. I also tend to get upset when people tell me that I want too much, or that what I want isn’t possible. PSSHHH.
I have applied this theory to many areas of my life, and have experienced successful results. I have managed to build an excellent career straight out of college without leveraging any special favors or family connections. I made incredible business contacts and built a nice and tidy little life for myself. And then, after 6 years of doing what I thought would make me happy and what I was told would lead to fulfillment, I called it quits. I quit a fantastic job at a wonderful company because it just wasn’t suiting me anymore. My inner voice told me on was on the wrong path, that there is something bigger I needed to be doing with my life. Why am I telling you this? Because I believe that both you and I can have it all and that it's never to late to get after it.
You may be wondering what this has to do with mindful marketing… I’m getting there. But first, it is important for you to understand my mindset so that you can follow along. So what is “having it all” and how does this apply to business and marketing?
Having it all is a sense of underlying fulfillment brought about by a complete love of oneself. A love grounded in a deep understanding of your place and purpose in the world and acting in alignment with this purpose.
Hold up, let’s pause right there because that sounds pretty hypothetical/confusing/nauseating and you probably just took a short nap as you read that.
Why would I be talking about a love for oneself on a marketing blog? You must be thinking I have lost my mind. But trust me, it’s still here, so humor me. I really want you to think about that sentence and let it simmer for a minute. Read it now, then pause and take a few breaths: “Having it all is a sense of underlying fulfillment brought about by a complete love of oneself. A love grounded in a deep understanding of your place and purpose in the world and acting in alignment with this purpose.”
You see, I believe that magic can happen when you align your passions and your purpose with your actions. When this alignment happens, your body will feel so good, you won’t be able to stop – hence, you will be unstoppable.
So- that said, I believe this theory can carry over to many aspects of life, but for the purposes of this discussion, I am going to focus on your business and your career. I believe that your business has the potential to be an extraordinary source of energy and excitement for you, if you will let it.
Disclaimer- If you are currently working in an industry you absolutely hate and want to quit as soon as possible… then bookmark this page and reread it when you have started out on a path that is more in line with your personal vision. For the rest of you who feel like you are relatively on the right path, keep reading along.
So you might be asking yourself, “OK, Alycia if you’re so cool, what is your life’s purpose?” I’m glad you asked, because here’s what I’ve got so far: My purpose in life is to bring as many people joy and fulfillment as possible by utilizing my passion for laughter, communication and making authentic connections, all while remaining true to myself. (See the photo below of me dreaming about my life's purpose? It makes me feel like I'm on a mountain top.)
You might be able to see why marketing has become my career. Because at the very core of marketing is a basic principle called communication. Communication (according to Dictionary.com) is, “the successful conveying or sharing of ideas and feelings – and – a means of connection between people or places, in particular.”
It is fascinating that in order to communicate we must consider to what level we are successful in how we are conveying an idea or feeling. I believe that marketing has evolved too far away from this core concept. Most marketers and businesses today are too focused on what they are saying and when they are saying it, that the message gets lost. The person for which the message was intended for has become insignificant. Where is the feedback loop telling us how successful we are and why don't we pay attention to that metric?
Let me give you an example. How many times have you had this discussion with your boss, CEO, sales team, etc.? The boss says, “Alright team, we really need to focus on increasing sales this month and pushing our new product/service offering because sales in that region/sector are lacking or growth is not where we expected.” So you, being the smart and educated marketer that you are, develop a campaign, a plan of action, a series of newsblasts or events all centered around this main need: revenue growth. But what happens when revenue growth is the driving force behind the communication? People see right through it.
Research has shown that the new generation has a highly refined ability to sift through the (pardon my French) bullshit messages sent out by marketers looking to fill a funnel and increase sales for the quarter. So, as the workforce begins to shift, you may have noticed that your messages are increasingly falling on deaf ears.
You may have some spotty results with ebbs and flows here or there, but my belief is that if you’d like to be a company that remains viable for the next few decades, you will have to adapt to this fact: People do not want to be marketed to, they want to be communicating with you. They want to build a relationship with you. They want to be talked to and treated like real people, not statistics or a portion of a revenue stream.
Ahh and here comes the “mindful” part. See, I knew I would get there. Mindful marketing is what I like to call “communicating with humans”. My company, MarDeux, is founded on these principles that I deeply believe in and am proud of, because I made them up. (toot toot people!) So what are they?
Alycia's 5 Essential Qualities of Mindful Marketing:
Successful communication is a conversation between two human beings, not between a company/brand and a segment/customer/business/account.
Content is designed to engage, inspire, fulfill and ignite something within an individual.
Messages and conversations are designed to build a heightened awareness and a sense of importance of the present moment. No moment is more important than any other moment.
Personality, authenticity and relatability must be core brand elements
Understanding human emotions and feelings are essential elements in successful marketing strategies.
Dude, that sounds pretty crazy when you put it out there like that. But that’s what I’m talking about! If it takes sounding a little off your rocker to make a stand for what you believe, then hey, I'm all in. I really believe those things and I believe that no matter your business, you will be insanely successful if you can begin to fold those ideas into your strategy. Because at the end of the day, your messages/phone calls/ emails are being sent out to human beings or have feelings and emotions just like everyone else, even in the business world.
In fact I would go out on a limb and say especially in the business world. I’m positive nearly everyone you know is always talking about how busy they are or how stressful their life is. What if your brand was able to help with that stress? Or calm their anxiety or help them sleep more peacefully? I don’t believe that any one person is able to leave work at 5 PM, go home and literally never think or feel about their responsibilities at work until the next day at 8 AM.
What if our work as marketers shifted from increasing sales to increasing customer happiness? To helping our clients sleep better at night? To rest assured knowing our product or our service is serving them in a meaningful way? To help our team members feel more fulfilled throughout the day? Are you starting to see the connection? Your customers start feeling like you truly care about them as individuals and the relationship builds. Before you know it, sales are increasing because of the bond you have with those people, who tell their friends, who share it on social media and BOOM! A world full of people who are happy, more fulfilled and less stressed.
And then, here’s the icing on the mindful marketing cake- your career becomes a source of pride, fulfillment and energy for you. The positive customer feedback grows, the vibe of the office begins to shift and people are acting more out of a place of love than numbers. Your feelings begin to change. You start feeling more in line with your true purpose. You start feeling like the work you are doing is truly making a difference in people’s lives. Even if that difference is small, you begin to grasp that each time someone becomes a customer, or renews a client agreement you can celebrate. And those feelings are so energizing, exciting and empowering that you won’t want it to end.
Is that a crazy concept? That’s for you to decide. But for me, I believe that this my dear friends, is the way of the future. That’s why MarDeux was founded and that’s what I’m here to help you do – to build the type of life for yourself that you’ve always dreamed about and to do it through work that you are proud to put your name on. That’s Mindful Marketing at its finest.
#Hollaback on social media or alycia@mardeux.com. I’d love to hear what you have to say. Yes, you!
Thanks so much for reading - don’t be a stranger.
-Alycia
