I think this is a great time to be in marketing.

It used to be that marketing was almost a dirty word. The perception being that marketing was using slick techniques to get people to buy things that they may not really need or that marketing was used to mask some of the truth. On the flip side, if marketing wasn’t thought of as deceptive, it was thought of as useless, adding no value to the customer. I think all of that is changing.

 Many marketers are using marketing to put the customer first. The great marketers are creating brands that at their core are about customer success. Brands that are about delivering on a vision.  This marketing transformation is everywhere.  I read articles everyday about being honest, talking about the pros AND the cons of your product and posting the good AND the bad reviews. I read articles about using storytelling to help prospects know what it is really like to use your product and really understand the company. I read articles about using content marketing to help prospects accomplish their goal, knowing full well many of those customers will never make a purchase and will be getting something for nothing. I read articles about consultative selling where the end result is not pushing for the sale, but letting the customer know the product might not be a good fit and offering suggestions on a better option. I read articles about consistently measuring customer satisfaction using net promoter score or other metrics and using the results to address situations immediately, not just as a data point in some quarterly review. I read articles about taking the time and effort to perform extraordinary acts for customers and working to delight them. These are just a few examples of how marketing is changing. The list of examples showing marketing adding real value to customers could go on and on. And this change is being embraced by both big and small businesses and both start-ups and established organizations.

I love it. I love that marketing is leading here. Honestly, it makes me proud to be in marketing. I want this new marketing outlook to continue to expand, to be embraced by everyone in marketing.

The other day I was speaking with someone and in trying to make a statement about someone else’s sincerity, he said “he really meant it, it wasn’t just a marketing technique.” I was slightly offended by the statement. Obviously, perceptions about marketing still have a way to go, but with the great efforts I listed above, we are getting there. I look forward to the day when the statement becomes, “He really meant it, it WAS a marketing technique.”

P.S. The best news of all for those in marketing is that this shift is not simply altruistic. In the end, treating people right, putting them first, produces results.