2. ExpertADVICE ON HOW TO CREATE
MARKETING PEOPLE Love
It’s Valentine’s Day, and love is in the air—cards, roses, chocolates. So it’s the
perfect time to highlight thought leaders and their advice on creating
marketing people love. From poets and analysts, to authors and agencies,
we’ve rolled out the red carpet for some very important people in the world
of marketing, and wanted to share that marketing love with you.

3. You have to know the people you want to reach in order to make content that
they will love. This isn't just about profiles of who they are, but you have to
know in your soul exactly the type of people they are.
Then you'll create content that isn't all about pitching or landing the sale. It
will share more about your company or solve a problem that they have.
They'll begin to connect with you and then all the other great content you
have that does include the hard sell will come into play and help convert
them into a customer.
Start with the soul and end with the sale. Not the other way around.
C.C. Chapman
@CC_Chapman
Founder of The Cleon Foundation and
Author of Amazing Things Will Happen
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4. If you sell something, you make a customer today. If you help someone,
you may create a customer for life. The key to success - the key to
marketing that people LOVE - is to stop being a salesman, and start
becoming a Youtility.
Youtility is marketing so useful people actually want it. If you do that - if
you make your marketing inherently, truly, astoundingly useful - your
customers will do your marketing for you. It's a paradox, but you'll sell
more by selling less.
Jay Baer, ConvinceandConvert.com, @jaybaer tweet this

5. It's h ard not to h ate
someone who constantl y
interrupts you with irrelevant
messages, assuming they
alwa ys deserve your
undivided attention.
It's easy to fall in love with
someone who always says
the right thing, in the right
way, at the right time, in the
right place.
Which are you going for?
Des Traynor,
{ COO, Intercom
@destraynor
}
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6. If marketing is what gets people through the door, then
you better make sure they like what they see when they
come inside. Lovable marketing offers a promise and
delivers on that promise in a way that leaves a lasting
impression. From compelling images on advertisements
to witty social media messages to the overall customer
experience, your marketing shares your brand's spirit.
The best marketing feels like it speaks directly to me. So
much so, it compels me to answer.
Sarah Evans
Chief Evangelist, Tracky
@PRsarahevans
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7. ‘I love being marketed to’ said no one, ever. But people do
love art, music, bacon, and a good story, so pretend you're
not marketing and just give people those things, and trust
that they're smart enough to figure out who gave it to them.”
Jesse Thomas
CEO & Founder, JESS3
@jess3, jess3.com
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8. Creating marketing people love starts with knowing your
customers and a passion for your product. Throwing around
cool ideas and brainstorming the next big marketing
campaign can be exciting, but the desire to solve the
customer's problems and energy from knowing you have the
solution will be a beacon. While much goes into successful
marketing, if you don't show love and passion through your
actions, you won't see much love come your way.
Sam Melnick
Research Analyst, IDC
@SamMelnick
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9. Solve problems or share
resources, don't shill. What
marketing content will your
customers THANK you for?
Ann Handley
Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs
@MarketingProfs
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10. The most successful love affairs between brands and customers
are either driven by the utility, elegance, and superiority of the
product (think: Apple) or by a combination of the product and the
utility, intelligence, and creativity of the marketing. For the latter,
you must have a commitment to bringing wit, beauty, timeliness,
and knowledge to every piece of content and text you share. And it
must be as devoid of your branding and product messages as
possible. As with any relationship, the market favors those who
give more value than they ask for in return.
Leslie Bradshaw
COO of Guide (former COO
& Co-founder of JESS3)
@lesliebradshaw
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11. [
The marketing we love the best is the
chance to imagine becoming our best
]
selves. Give us something to dream about.
Seth Godin, Author,
Blogger @thisissethsblog
sethgodin.com
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12. Fall madly in love with yourself.
Wake up every day determined to
become a better you. And remember
that people don't fall in love with
hex colors and logos -- they fall in
love with people.
Be in love with you -- the people
who love you will soon follow.
Erika Napoletano
Author & Brand Strategist
@RedheadWriting
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13. Making marketing that people love is simple.
You have to love it first. Be honest: of the last
X campaigns you've sent out or worked on,
how many did you actually LOVE? How
many did you excitedly tell your friends or
spouse or kids about at the dinner table?
The answer is probably few to none. You've
shipped campaigns because you had to hit
a target date or an event or you had to beef
up your lead gen numbers, but you've
probably not loved them. You may have
liked them, you may have thought they were
cute or fun, but you probably didn't love
them. If you are truly in love with something
Chris Penn you've worked on, it will be reflected in the
VP MarketingTechnologies, final product. If you don't love it, there's no
SHIFT Communications reason for anyone else to either.
@CSPenn
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14. People typically take this task too broadly, trying to
reach too many people all at once. For marketers that
know their audience and know their target persona, the
better approach is to take a question you know your
audience is asking frequently and answer it from a
position of knowledge. Marketing that educates and
informs is always more persuasive in the end than
marketing that boasts or sells too hard.
David Carpenter
President, Connection Model,
a Platinum HubSpot Partner
@davidcarpenter
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15. Great marketers are matchmakers.
We find ways to get offerings
people love in front of the people
most likely to love them.
April Dunford
Co-founder of RocketScope
and
blogger at RocketWatcher.
@aprildunford
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16. You must show your fans and
followers that you genuinely care
about them. Content is king, but
engagement is queen ... and she
rules the house!
Mari Smith
Facebook Marketing Expert
@marismith
marismith.com
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17. There are two stages to every purchase
decision: emotional reaction, followed
closely by intellectual justification. People
are hardwired to feel first and think second.
Inbound marketing combined with a guided
sales process is the ideal way to form an
immediate emotional connection
with your prospects, build trust with your
Mike Lieberman
buyers and, ultimately, generate the leads Chief Marketing Scientist and Co-
Founder of Square 2 Marketing,
and revenue you need to grow your
A Platinum HubSpot Partner
business.
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18. Effective marketing is now critical to B2B
marketers' success because useful
content accelerates potential buyers
along their journey; usefulness
predicated upon content being available Peter O’Neill
and compelling at all touchpoints in the Vice President and
customer life cycle, from the awareness Principal Analyst,
Forrester Research
phase to what Forrester calls “customer @poneillforr
retention and expansion”.
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19. Don't try to reach everyone.
Focus on the dreams and
desires of your top 1,000
customers. Pay them special
attention and they will
return the favor.
Julia Roy
Co-founder,
WorkHacks
@juliaroy
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20. At the end of the day, people make
emotional buying decisions --
sometimes even ousting price or
convenience. If your marketing
connects with them emotionally, they
are going to remember it, share it and
buy it. Figuratively, and literally.
Christine Perkett
President & Founder,
PerkettPR
@MissusP
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21. John Jantsch
Your business is the
perfect tool to develop a Duct Tape Marketing
capacity for things like @DuctTape
purpose, love, wonder,
courage, and grace. I
love what I do, but I get
paid for what I finish.
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22. Marketing gets easier -- and more effective -- when
you realize it's just communication. It's everything
you say to customers, and it's also everything you do.
Focus on what your words and actions are
communicating -- your content, your site, your
support team -- and you'll find that your relationships
with your customers start to "magically" get better.
And that's when you see the loyalty, social sharing,
and referral business that create vibrant health for
your business.
Sonia Simone
CMO and co-founder of
Copyblogger Media
@copyblogger
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23. Marketing is the truth of you, translated
into the language of them ...
Colleen Wainwright
Express yourself with love and no fear and you will The Communicatrix
find yourself surrounded by the best the world has to @Communicatrix
offer. “Them.” Your “them.” Drawn to you for what they
need and not what you are trying to make them want.
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24. Aaron Strout
Head of Location Based
Marketing, WCG
@aaronstrout
Marketing that people love isn't a difficult concept. It's all about a
company's value exchange with its customers (content, experiences,
value, discounts). If you are doing it right, you will never have to 'sell' to
another customer again.
tweet this

25. Tell a story. Make it true. Make it
compelling. And make it relevant.
Rand Fishkin
CEO and Founder, SEOmoz.
@randfish
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26. If you sell like you're selling, people won't
want to buy. But if you help the people you
love to serve, you'll never starve.
Chris Brogan,
CEO & President
Human Business Works
@chrisbrogan
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27. Your relationship with a customer is
only as good as your last interaction
with them. So make sure it doesn’t
become your last interaction with
them...Think before you interact.
Better yet, think of them before you do.
Brent Leary
Co-founder and Partner of
CRM Essentials, LLC.
@BrentLeary
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28. To stand out from the noise you
have to be passionate about your
customer, create with purpose,
invite people into your brand,
and lean into the possibilities.
Build movements, not campaigns!
Ekaterina Walter
Social Marketer at Intel and an
author of Think Like Zuck
@Ekaterina
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29. When it comes to building digital marketing people love for the Celtics, we speak to
our fans' passion for our brand and look to strike an authentic chord. "#IAMACELTIC"
elicits emotional responses because it's so inclusive and powerful. Our coach and
players all talk about what it means to be a Celtic, and our fans have embraced the
concept as well. It's short, sweet, and easy to remember, and it imbues pride in our fans
that they're a part of something much bigger than just a basketball team when they
tweet that hashtag. Great marketing makes your customers and fans feel like part of
something exceptional.
Peter Stringer
Senior Director of
Interactive Media,
Boston Celtics
@peterstringer
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30. Looking for love from your customers? Don’t
be afraid to spice up your content (and
your marketing) by showing some passion,
personality, and purpose.
Shawn Graham
Small Business
Marketing Consultant
@shawngraham
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31. Most marketing reminds me of your
typical cheap one-night stand—they
say they love you, but they really just
want to sleep with you & move
on. There's definitely an audience
for that, but it's not a sustainable one.
It's exhausting. The cost of
acquisition is high, and the churn
rate is even higher.
The brands that win are the ones
that don't waste time on the one-
nighter, but actively invest in the
long-term. They know that real value
Marta Kagan is in loyalty over the long haul, and
CEO Stunt Double that the one, essential ingredient to
@mzkagan
enduring loyalty is love.
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