When I was assembling my portfolio, I struggled with how to organize my work over the many years. Chronological wasn’t right. Type of business seemed somewhat irrelevant. I finally settled on what marketing principles each illustrated.
That’s when I formulated these 10 tenets. I had just seen the movie “Tenet.” Since I had come up with 10 principles, it seemed like a good term.
Here are my 10 Tenets of Marketing, each with a brief introduction:
STRATEGY
Collaborative planning identifies opportunities to create success. Everything we do should have a clearly designed strategic function that leads to a defined result.
BRANDING
Forging a core identity humanizes and multiplies the power of messages. A brand is all the things a business is known for. A great brand conveys likeability and sense of familiarity.
LEARNING
Research and data help us understand our markets, customize messages, and track results. Learning is about more than just numbers. We learn best when we listen to our customers.
EMOTION
Connections of the heart make memories. People will remember a feeling that our marketing creates. We have opportunities to make people feel through our messages and, just as important, how we treat them in person.
STORYTELLING
A compelling narrative captures attention like nothing else. When you tell a story, everyone listens. But your story needs to be interesting or insightful or entertaining.
TRUST
Honesty and integrity build believability and loyalty among stakeholders. People buy from people (and businesses) they trust. Two of the strongest ways to build trust is standing by our offerings and communicating how much we care about doing the right thing.
VIEWPOINT
Communication resonates when it addresses consumer needs. We must think like our consumers and ensure that our messaging and our services meet customer needs.
CLARITY
Messages should be easy to understand and present solutions to needs. We live in a complex world so we appreciate simplicity. Marketing is about improving life and making things clear and easy.
CONSISTENCY
The consumer’s need for trust and integrity is met through reliability. At some level, we know the world is unpredictable. This creates subconscious tension that consistency can overcome to create loyalty with consumers.
INNOVATION
Considering new ideas can lead to a communications breakthrough. When we stop being open to growth and change, we lose ground. Of course, not every change is a good idea, but not considering change at all is a really bad approach.
I’ll create future blog articles with examples and more info about each tenet. Stay tuned.
