My mom once told me that the best marketing comes from the heart, and I couldn’t agree more because she was on point. Indeed, mothers know best.
Just what are we going to do without our mothers on our side? It’s just too difficult to imagine.
Mothers are brilliant communication strategist who is skillful in pulling out gems like “If you don’t have something nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.”
This and other straightforward and short instructions about life that flowed off of every mother’s lips, became the saving mantras of children to every battle in life.
Marketers like you can learn a lot if you will think back to the lessons that your beloved mother taught you since you were just a playful toddler.
You’ll be surprised to find out that most of those lessons that we once hated, are the building blocks of the marketing and entrepreneurial skills that you have right now.
You hardly believe it? Then here are the things that your mom taught you about marketing.
Table of Contents
1. Be Kind, Honest and Friendly
When it comes to reminders of saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ mom is always around to remind you.
She knew the value and importance of showing respectful appreciation and well-mannered requests. In business, you need to do the same.
Altering, omitting or misleading the truth is just not tolerated by mothers. Just like in consumers today, your mother can tell if we were anything less than forthright. Being honest is the first lecture on marketing ethics.
When people acknowledge and greet you, it feels good right? The same thing holds true when it comes to marketing, that’s why it’s important that you reach out and open your communication to get feedbacks from the customers.
Treating customers with kindness, consideration, and respect goes a long way towards augmenting a long-term relationship.
Install this into every aspect of communication that you publish for your business goals, and you are sure to produce a sturdier impression on your target market.
2. Lend a Helping Hand
You should realize by now why your mother keeps telling you to help whenever you see someone who needs one. The reason is not just because you’ll look good to others, but mainly because people will see you as a dependent and reliable person.
Lending a helping hand to the customers is the first step of easing their burdens, making you more attractive to leads, prospects, and customers.
The products or services that you sell makes the customer’s lives a little easier or solves a problem.
The trick of the trade is to show how your products or services can help them through your marketing and sales outreach efforts.
Don’t regard it as the sales process but acknowledge it as the buyer’s process. Think of what process they go through when they buy.
Find out the information that they gather and the questions that they ask. Then, assist them through that process.
Help the customers understand the business through creating FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) and checklists that they can use. Lend a helping hand and start building trust.
Mothers are the first people who instilled the importance of setting and knowing your priorities.
Your mother’s standard line would be “Finish your homework first before playing,” and this is the solid ground of many successful marketers, both for the agency and brand.
They do their homework first before pitching for a client’s business, establishing consumer incentives and launching new campaigns.
Many things are creative, fun and artsy but mothers buckle down when less glamorous tasks need to be done.
4. Keep Your Room Neat and Clean
Simple reminders like washing your hands, cleaning your room or wiping your feet that your mom tells you, also play important roles on your character as a marketer.
A marketer who practices orderliness and tidiness at home knows how to respect the community, how to show awareness to the surroundings and how to do the right thing.
5. You’re Special because you’re Different
Mothers would always tell their children that their differences make them unique. And in this world, there are things that you can’t control.
But you have choices in life, and you can choose to be beautifully distinct with the skills and talents you have.
The same rule applies to marketing; there are factors that you cannot control. But through perseverance and determination, you will have a fair chance of staying in the game and even outwitting it.
6. Be Humble
Humility goes a long way. No one likes to hear someone bragging, especially if it’s done without shame, more so when it comes to business.
You can be the smartest marketer, but you probably don’t know it all. The customers know their business better than you, don’t ever forget that.
Your humility will bring you to greater mileage along with your marketing and sales efforts, making it easier to reach the customers.
7. Your Mother Can Always See You
For some unexplainable reasons, mothers always seem to know what exactly are going on. As for marketers, you might not have eyes at the back of your head like your moms do, but you’re always reminded to take a full view of everything about business to know what’s happening.
In short, you have to invest your time learning everything about your business. A good marketer knows what to look, when to move, and how to act.
8. Don’t Be Afraid To Express Yourself
Your mom taught you the importance of expressing your opinions. When it comes to business, expression of opinions is not just a smart move, but it is also encouraged.
Make yourself an advocate for your customers because at the end of the day you will earn more respect on with a voice than just sitting silently at the back.
9. Always Listen
How many times did your mother remind you the importance of listening? Being a good listener pays a lot.
In this age, it’s easier to listen to what your customers are saying about the industry and business. Listen and absorb what you’ve read and heard. A good marketer knows how to listen to the customers and do something about them.
The more you practice the art of effective listening the more you’ll be able to utilize what’s being buzzed about to improve your marketing messages.
10. Be Generous
Generosity could be the biggest value that every mother practices in their lifetime. Mothers, by nature, are selfless beings. Their selflessness is what makes them most endearing of all.
The same goes for business too. It’s okay to take a break from profit lines and revenue for a while. Be generous to the customers and give something that will make them happy. When you are helpful, good profits are sure to follow.
11. Avoid Overspending
Just like what your mother told you about managing your personal accounts, you have to do the same for your business.
Do not just throw money for strategies that you aren’t sure will work or not. Marketing in the first place should make you money and not lose them. You have to spend your financial resources wisely.
12. Always Put Your Family First
The greatest lesson that every mother imparts to her children is to put the family first. The reason why you strive to do better and excel in your field of endeavors is that you want to make your family happy.
The lesson rings true for business too. Your customers and prospects are families too. You have to treat them with care and respect just like how you do with your parents and siblings.
When customers see that you treat them as such, you’ll go a long way towards producing a good impression.
Furthermore, treating everyone in your business like family builds a solid foundation that you can step on to grow your business and make it a brand that follows family-oriented values. You’ll earn more respect and establish a good reputation.
Takeaway
Your mother could have given you the best useful pieces of advice and even life hacks that you can use when life throws some lemons on you.
The same with business, the fundamentals are not that different to what mothers apply in disciplining their children. Those disciplinary actions that you got from them are a big help on what you are as a person right now, and of course, on how you are as a marketer.
So, take heed, give your mom some love and credits that she truly deserves. Of course, you have to remind yourself too, that if not for her, you will not be standing where you are right now.
- 12 Things Your Mother Taught You about Marketing - April 22, 2017