Quick reminder that this Sunday is Mother’s Day. If that was a surprise then feel free to stop reading this immediately and go get your card. :)
With a 2 year old and a 1 month old at home, my wife Erin makes it nearly impossible for me to forget about this holiday weekend. Since April I’ve been reminded almost daily!
To be clear, I’m not complaining. In fact, I’m a huge fan of Mother’s Day and I’m excited to celebrate and acknowledge everything our mothers do. And as a tribute to all the “super moms” in my life, I’m taking time today to write about what our mothers can teach us about marketing. You probably never realized it, but our moms were preparing us for marketing success ever since we were infants!
Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at some of the key characteristics of mothers and how they relate to marketing success.
Mothers Always Nurture
When you think of a mom, then it’s hard not to think of the word “nurture.” From infants to adults, moms continually encourage us to grow and develop. They feed us, educate us, and comfort us, sometimes at the expense of their own health. In my experience, moms never stop nurturing regardless of how many times they hear the words “no.”
Successful marketing is no different. One of the most important jobs of your marketing is to follow up and nurture prospective customers. With digital marketing, we do this primarily via email marketing and retargeting advertising. Both can be set up to automatically follow up with your prospects to feed information, educate, and provide comfort by overcoming objections. And of course, great marketing and sales does not stop just because a prospect says “no”. Sometimes a “no” is simply the start of a the sale.
Mothers Set Firm, But Fair Rules
One of my mom’s rules was that we always had to eat dinner as a family. Growing up I remember literally kicking and screaming because I wanted to watch something on TV, but my mom had finished cooking and it was officially “dinner time.” That meant no TV and we all sat down together to eat. I thought that was ridiculous as a kid, but with children of my own I now fully understand the importance of that time together.
It was a rule my mom set and she didn’t budge no matter how much resistance my brother and I gave her.
In your marketing, it’s also important to set firm, but fair rules that you don’t break. For example, when you’re advertising, you need to know your maximum cost per lead or sale. That’s a rule that must be set and enforced to ensure you maintain profitability. It doesn’t matter how much you or anyone on your team kicks and screams about certain ad campaigns because the numbers don’t lie. Stick to your rules and it makes managing and optimizing your marketing a lot easier.
Mothers Build On Success & Don’t Fret Failure
Looking back, my mom never tried to force me in any one direction. For example, I tried just about every sport available as a kid. At one point I was playing football, baseball, and basketball, and I didn’t realize it at the time, but I wasn’t going to be a great basketball player. My mom knew it and rather than focus on how I wasn’t progressing in basketball, she instead reinforced the success I was having in football and baseball. Eventually I stopped investing my time playing hoops and focused where I was getting positive reinforcement.
With marketing, I guarantee you will find yourself in a similar situation. You may have 3 campaigns that are all doing OK, but one is struggling more than the others. Where should you focus?
Resist that urge to invest in the failing campaign! Take a page from our moms and focus your time and resources on the campaigns that have the most potential for success.
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