In short:
• It’s a form of content marketing
• It provides value and makes the customer feel better
• It builds trust
When you arrive on the homepage of Full Circle Creative’s website you see the following text:
Full Circle Creative, LLC provides marketing and graphic design that builds trust.
In short, this is the most basic definition of Conscious Marketing. It’s a way for companies to engage with their customers that is genuine, honest and heartfelt.
The longer answer is that it’s a form of content marketing. Content marketing is exactly what you are reading here. At some point you provided your name and email address in order to receive hopefully valuable information (content). For example you may have been a part of the Love Yourself Rich summit, or heard the radio show Create More Love and signed up for the newsletter.
In the not too distant past, marketing was about smashing your competition. It was about being the loudest person in the room. It was about showing up in the public’s face as much and as many times a business could afford.
Marketing was print advertising, direct mail, TV and radio ads, TV and radio appearances and sponsorships. It was in your face. It lied. It was disingenuous. It put down the competition in order to look like the better choice. It felt sleazy.
Because of this and other reasons (like the cost of regular ads in the local paper) many small business owners didn’t market.
Most of these small business owners struggled, but the successful ones figured out ways to make marketing not as sleazy, and effective. These companies relied on good ole fashioned hard work – sales calls, referral programs, cold calling, etc.
Then came the internet and social media.
Social media cracked the marketing game wide open. It seemed all you had to do was write about your life and people started throwing money at you.
It was glorious! Facebook was a wondrous place where connecting with other humans actually occurred. Twitter came next. You could literally have a dialogue with people you admired.
Never before could you send a direct message to a celebrity or influencer in your industry – and have them respond back to you! Slowly companies as a whole started to embrace these changes.
Eventually everything became about monetizing and ROI (return on investment). There were as many scams as there were legitimate ways to purchase directly from businesses. Once again marketing became more about being the loudest person in the room, rather than having the best product. It became sleazy and untrustworthy again.
Except, there are still people and brands that seem to rise above the noise and succeed. These brands create success on their own terms.
How? They build connections, and trust. They don’t use social media to just sell. They provide useful information that helps their customers make better buying decisions. They engage in conversation with their customers. They make mass marketing feel personal.
It’s about trust.
This is the beauty of content marketing. When their customers comment or reach out directly through social media, these brands and businesses respond back as if they were personal friends.
The most successful content marketers treat their customers as they would guests in their own home. They provide information that helps solve a potential customer’s problem. They become a trusted resource.
Businesses engaged in content marketing became aware, or conscious, of their customers. As a result their marketing changed.
This is what I call conscious marketing.
It’s a more soulful, honest and heartfelt way to market. It takes into account the feelings, hopes and dreams of both the seller and the buyer. It’s a friendlier way to talk about and promote your business.
It’s more than selling and marketing – it’s problem solving. It’s more fun. It’s beneficial for the seller and the buyer. It takes a bit more effort and time, but it’s completely worth it.
The brands customers are most pleased with provide value and don’t just try to sell. (Marketing Sherpa: Jan 2018)
The best way to get customers to consider your business is to have a relationship with them throughout the purchasing process. To do that you need to be conversing with them before, during and after the sale.
You must provide value in such a way it makes the customers feel better. (MarketingDive: Jan 2018)
This content needs to inform with no strings attached and it needs to be delivered continually over time.
These conversations happen online and your website is the ultimate destination for these conversations.
In the next few marketing-focused issues of The Full Circle, we’ll concentrate on how conscious marketing affects your website and marketing strategies.
Plus we’ll dive into the subject of opt-ins and their role for the conscious marketer. Want a jumpstart? Download the marketing blueprint 6 Steps to Create a Website That Will Change How You Market Forever.