Do You Practice Spiritual Marketing?
To some, those words may sound as if I’m talking about religion in marketing, or possibly some kind of New Age “woo-woo” marketing. But I’m not.
The fact is, each of us is spiritual in some way – and it has nothing to do with going to church or following any kind of spiritual teachings. It has to do with respecting both ourselves and our prospects – and with doing right by both.
A spiritual marketer is one who doesn’t compromise his or her beliefs to sell a product, and who does seek to add benefit to the lives of those who purchase the product or service being sold.
He or she sells not only for profit, but to enrich lives by making people aware of the products and services that can add value to their lives.
As a beginning copywriter, I learned to seek out the underlying benefits of any product I wrote about. Not just the benefits that would serve the obvious and visible needs of my prospects, but the deeper wants and desires that the prospect might not even speak aloud. I learned to subtly reference those benefits so that the prospect could recognize them without being “hit over the head” by them.
I also quickly learned that many marketers were not honest in their claims to meet those needs – and those are definitely not spiritual marketers!
Not long ago I read a good email that listed the commandments of spiritual marketing. One of them stood out: “Selling is not about what you do TO someone, it is about what you are doing FOR someone.”
So I ask again: “Are you a spiritual marketer?”
If you believe in your product, or you believe in your service, and you present it honestly, you are probably a spiritual marketer. If you hope that by reading your message and taking advantage of what you offer, someone’s life will be enriched, you are probably a spiritual marketer. If you refuse to misrepresent anything in order to achieve financial gain, you are probably a spiritual marketer.
And if those things are true, you are also probably on your way to great success.
Posted: April 27th, 2011 under e-mail marketing, effective marketing, marketing.
Comments
Comment from Marte
Time April 28, 2011 at 11:56 pm
Hi Shelagh, Thanks for stopping by and for commenting. I’ll read your post!
Comment from Shelagh Jones
Time April 29, 2011 at 1:19 am
Thanks for coming and asking such a great question! And just to share what I replied with your readers….
There is a difference between “spiritual” and “Spiritual Marketing”.
I don’t set myself up to judge peoples’ values, and to decide what is spiritual and what is not.
What matters to me is that people express their values accurately – and then others are free to interact with them or not.
I’ve used the example before, but one of the problems that the Banks have is that they hold one thing most valuable (creating wealth for their shareholders) but pretend to hold something totally different (serving their customers) as a prime value.
When I realise that is the case, I examine everything banks say through a different “lens”. And, if I own shares in a bank, then I am very happy with their value system.
But the disconnect between internal company values and the external message is what makes them non-Spiritual Marketers, in my opinion.
Comment from Marte
Time April 30, 2011 at 12:05 am
I’m not sure the banks are creating wealth for their shareholders. I read about this a lot because I write articles for a credit site – and it looks to me like they’re creating wealth for their CEO’s. Outlandish bonuses, luxury vacations, etc. on top of extremely high salaries.
But yes, I agree about the disconnect. When we run across honesty – especially in banking and government – it is truly refreshing.
Comment from Shelagh Jones
Time April 28, 2011 at 6:27 am
Hi Marte – you are spot on with a lot of what you say here!
But there is one distinction that I make, which some people disagree with.
It does not matter what the values are, as long as they are accurately reflected in the marketing material.
That is the critical factor of Spiritual Marketing for me -I’ve explained it further here
http://spiritualmarketing-blog.com/spiritual-marketing-awareness-month/what-if-my-values-are-bad-ones/
Shelagh