Are You Trying to Cut Hair Without Scissors?

Sooner or later, we all have to cut hair for one reason or another.  When I was about 7 years old, I picked up a pair of scissors and trimmed my 2 year old sister’s bangs. It was… bad.  And since then I’ve left it to the professionals apart from the occasional necessity of a tiny fix here and there in between appointments.  And even that is only done with fear and trepidation.

Cutting hair with scissors is scary enough. I can’t imagine trying to cut hair without scissors – without the right tool for the job. 

So if we’re agreed that we need the right tools to cut hair or color hair or curl hair or blow dry hair, why is it that we don’t see the need to do so in other areas of business?  Say – something like – just pulling a topic out of thin air – marketing?

You can’t cut hair without the right tools and expect to get the results you want.  

You can’t do marketing without the right tools and expect to get the results you want when it comes to growing a business.

In 2013, to get the marketing results that you want, these are some of the tools that you need:

• A defined, identifiable brand including visual brand imagery (logo, colors, style and feel)
• Unique selling propositions – things that clearly differentiate you from direct and indirect competitors
• A marketing plan designed to attract, engage, motivate and retain people to your business
• A clear understanding of your current customer base, target markets and ideal client types
• A search optimized content marketing strategy for online marketing across multiple internet channels: website, blog, social networks, email and other strategically chosen content creation and curation sites

Cut hair isn’t worth much, but a haircut might be.  When you go out to get a haircut, you’re not buying cut hair, you’re buying the outcome you receive in appearance, confidence, self esteem, professionalism, customer experience – wherever your payoffs lie.

It’s the same with marketing.  It’s not about the exercise of “doing marketing,” it’s about the payoffs you get when you’ve done marketing right.

The point of writing a mission statement isn’t for its aesthetic value in a pretty frame hanging on the wall.  The point of writing a mission statement lies in its outcomes:  your ability to infuse your business with purpose, set expectations for your customers, inspire your team or even hold them accountable.

The point of having a website isn’t to build a digital mausoleum, a tribute memorial to you and your team.  A website guided by marketing strategy produces payoffs:  newly attracted prospects, engaged customers, and people motivated to respond to take the actions you want them to take (a.k.a. buy stuff).

The point of knowing who your customers are now and who you’d like to attract in the future isn’t about generating statistics or feeling like you’ve got your own little CIA operation.  It’s about getting the information you need to design and execute marketing strategies that will get you those new customers and help you keep the ones you have, over the long haul. It’s about identifying new target markets to expand your customer base and knowing how to attract them to your business.

Trying to do marketing for the purpose of growing a business and making it sustainable over the long term can’t be done without the right tools anymore than cutting hair without scissors and expecting a precision cut outcome.  Give yourself and your business the right tools and you’ll be that much closer to the outcomes that you really want!

Related articles

• Are You Selling Salon Services or Outcomes? (thesavvystylist.wordpress.com)
• What’s So Special About You? Finding Your USP (365daysofmarketing.wordpress.com)

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My 2015 Small Business Marketing Calendar is available on amazon.com — in print or digital format. It is absolutely packed with marketing inspiration and a working content marketing plan you can use to attract – engage – retain and motivate your customers in the coming year.