In late February I was on a plane at 36,000 feet when I read an article by Dave Gerhardt with Drift about their new marketing manifesto.
I thought to myself…a marketing manifesto? Say what?
But when I read it, it totally resonated with me. It’s simple. It’s straightforward. It’s similar to what I’ve been preaching to my team for the the last few years.
If you ask your association marketing team how they “do” marketing, you’ll probably get some pretty strange looks. While marketing teams should easily be able to tell you their strategies (content, cause, digital, inbound, word of mouth…the list is nearly endless), they aren’t necessarily used to telling you “how” they market.
That’s where the Marketing Manifesto comes in.
The objective is to clarify the principles we live by, and strive for, in our marketing. This not only binds our team closer together, but brings consistency to our work. Think of it as a brand guide for our marketing principles.
So I decided to write a marketing manifesto for Aptify.
Essentially, the below 11 concepts guide how we do marketing at Aptify.
Check em’ out:
1. Outcomes, not outputs.
We believe our value is measured by our outcomes, not our outputs. That is, the results matter, not how many pieces of content we generate.
2. Self-Disruption.
We disrupt our ideas and our work. We adopt the mindset of “Always Be Learning” by consistently consuming content in all formats and applying it to our work. We are eager to try new things and new tools.
3. Be generous with our knowledge.
We don’t keep secrets and we don’t hoard information (especially since our competitors may already be giving it away). We are generous with the knowledge that we have.
4. Advise, don’t sell.
Our content and messaging is advisory, not pushy and salesy. We provide helpful, useful, practical advice to prospects and clients.
5. Write better, more natural copy.
We write copy like we’re having a conversation with a friend. No more corporate, boring gobbledygook. We ask ourselves, “Would I read this? Is this interesting? Does it feel like I’m being marketed to?”
6. Challenge the status quo.
We are willing to speak up and challenge norms. We think outside the box. We don’t get comfortable.
7. Keep it simple.
We simplify what we do. We don’t overthink or overcomplicate things. We keep our writing and our design straightforward.
8. Push the envelope.
We are never satisfied with our work. We are willing to take risks and get out of our comfort zones. That’s where growth happens. We expect more from ourselves and our team.
9. Get closer to the customer.
We speak regularly with clients and get direct feedback from them. This allows us to build a better community and better understand the pain points of our customers.
10. Stand out.
We are unique. We create content that stands out and screams that it’s different.
11. Analyze and react.
We understand what’s happening with our marketing efforts by analyzing trends and reacting. There’s no such thing as “set it and forget it.” We use data to inform our strategy. We are agile.
Let me know what you think? Does this make sense? Would your organization be served by a marketing manifesto?
Is your association willing to change for 3x the ROI?
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