A recent trend in marketing popularized by Scott Stratten, author of the book UNmarketing, involves moving away from the traditional concept of marketing itself. Following from the idea of inbound (or non-interruption) marketing, this new un-marketing approach is all about conversing with an audience, sharing content and interacting with people within the context of a brand or company. Quite often, the brand or company itself could be only loosely associated with any given interaction. In this way, the focus shifts to the people behind the social media accounts, and their engagement with other users rather than a profile page handled by a marketing department.
On the surface, this could seem like just another attempt to hide a traditional approach while marketing directly to people. No one really likes to be marketed to, after all, which is why performing a specific online search for a product or service when you need it is fast becoming the most common form of shopping nowadays. Google handles this type of need quite well, and there are many strategies (such as PPC advertising) that work into that scheme to generate clicks and calls.
What this un-marketing concept is really about is growing brands. This is perhaps one of the most difficult things to accomplish for a small-to-medium business online. Sure, everyone has access to social networks and apps, but why should people like or follow your page? Why should they identify with your brand? There are a million companies that do what you do. How are you going to differentiate yourself? Well, even if you’ve figured out how you’re going to do that, you need to put it out there, and it’s not enough to just throw information at people and hire SEO services to get on top of Google results. You now have to engage and interact, as you would in everyday life. But you still have to stay on message, and build your company.
The need for this delicate balance has created a demand for agile, cutting edge digital “marketing” agencies that take on clients as partners, getting to know every detail of their business and philosophy. The Blue Hat team knows this well, and that’s why we use this type of approach. We don’t just relay information on social media, we engage users the way we engage our clients, through a genuine partnership that refines strategies and grows their brand.
