Stop Following & Start Leading

@daniel-reche-718241 took this pic

I’m targeting business owners/managers and C level executives, but if you feel in some way identified with this scenario, please feel free to speak up and make yourself be heard.

In marketing, trends come and go, they are unpredictable, generally hard to measure and sometimes make no sense. These are not deal breakers, but trends can really spike up your sales or slow down your traffic. This is only one factor that you must have present when creating your marketing plan. It surely helps to be always present on trending topics for branding purposes and whatnot but this is not why I’m writing this time. I want you to stop following.

As the person in charge, you have the power to influence the public. By following trends you only invite people to see more of the same. Trends, as mentioned before, is just a fraction of what a monotonously boring market has been offering us.

Think for a second on this topic. Take a step back from your desk and just chill for a few minutes. Empty your mind (at least as empty as you can) and just look around, listen, and even taste. Newer car models look alike, music has become very repetitive beats with very similar lyrics, and even restaurants give you the very same options with different names. Are you still with me or you emptied your mind too much?

By offering people more of the same taste, you are educating them, not right, but you are educating nonetheless to just be content with the choices they have and move on to the next trend that surely will be a slightly different scented 💩. Come on!

Fear plays a major role here. You have to play it safe in order to profit, I hear you. Still, I believe you can do so much more than just go with the flow. No pain no gain, right? Sell, but your way.

I invite you to take a leap of faith on what you believe would work, trust your guts and make ballsy (or obar-y) moves. Let your audience know who you are and why you are doing this. Show them why they should stick with you and offer them what major brands are not: something different. People will love it and people will hate it, and here is the perfect place to paste the corny phrase “you only live once”. Make your career something you could be proud of.

I would like to recommend you to familiarize yourself with your brand to a personal level. Customize the experience your client has with your business and let them know there are people behind your brand. What is your client’s POV. Do I want a warm greeting and fresh ground coffee, or a “nice-looking” acceptable coffee that has been brewed a while ago and been sitting on that warmer?

You don’t have to be that Hipster store, you could but you don’t have to. Stop following random studies and numbers you see online. If I might, here are some of the things you could do to experiment and measure your own results. What you do with your numbers is entirely up to you.

Cross-marketing campaigns with local stores that don’t conflict with your business.

Events

Dip your toes into Customer service yourself.

Be SOCIAL on social media.

That requires zero monetary investment, only your time. Invest your time to help grow your business, fair enough if you ask me.

And that is all I had to say… I ran out of ranting juice.

Please, feel free to let me know what you think, I’m always open to hearing opinions and other points of views because, after all, WE ARE NOT EQUAL.