The Top Ten Analogies Every Marketer Will Relate To

By Alex Butz

Some of My Favorite Relatable Marketing Sayings

There are hundreds of analogies to help us with motivation, self-esteem and character.

Marketing can be an abstract concept, so sometimes these are helpful in providing different perspectives to improve your performance and drive self improvement.

In my 10+ years in the business, I have come across a lot of good ones—here are some of my favorites:

1. Marketing is like building a house, it needs a good foundation.

I touched on this in a blog earlier this year, discussing content management systems you can use for your website.

Here I am referring more to the research and time put in to developing a sound and cohesive strategy. Developing personas, and understanding who your target audience is, is crucial to your success. Not only knowing who they are, but where to find them and how to speak their language.

 

2. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.

Use a multi-medium approach to your marketing and advertising. Know what mediums have proven success for your industry and diversify your approach. Don’t be afraid to experiment and test new possibilities.

Make sure to maintain a cohesive message throughout!

 

3. There’s no magic behind marketing, just hard work.

Put the time in, build your foundation. There are no shortcuts to success. Have the data to back a sound strategy and just do it.

Just remember–what comes easy won’t last; what lasts won’t come easy.

 

4. You can’t take content marketing on a coffee date.

I actually just heard this one the day before I wrote this—I overheard a conversation between two people and this came out. It’s brilliant.

The implication being, content marketing requires attention, time and patience. In a world of swipe left, swipe right, we need to be able to “put in the work” and we will be rewarded!

But if you want to be successful, be consistent and give your success the time to bear fruit.

 

5. People don’t buy goods and services, they buy relations, stories and magic. Seth Godin 

The power of storytelling. This one speaks for itself, and it is powerful.

 

6. Be less reactive and more proactive.

It’s normal to react and respond; whether we are talking about reviews and critics or new trends and fads. BUT standing away from the crowd is the best way to be seen.

Pro-activeness is what your initial dream, your vision, consisted of—don’t let go of that. Continue to stay ahead of the curve and be original and intentional.

 

7. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Wayne Gretzky

More of a literal reference with hockey, or basketball. In this context it focuses on taking a chance, or a calculated risk.

You know your market—you know your audience; take a shot at something innovative, you never know what could happen.

*NOTE: When taking risk, make sure you aren’t putting all of your eggs in one basket! You want to gamble, but test first and make sure you are internally reviewing to stay on brand.

 

8. Be so good they can’t ignore you. Steve Martin

I love this one. To me, this is about passion. The passion people have for their business, for their product and/or service, but most importantly, their brand.

Be the best. Set the bar.

 

9. Telling your date they are attractive is marketing; telling your date that you are attractive is advertising, and having someone else tell your date that you are attractive is PR.

A great explanation of the differences between the three. There are subtle differences in how you position your brand depending on your message, and your objective!

 

10. The customer may not always be right, but they are always the customer. Shep Hyken

Two words. Relationship management.

Now-a-days, this should be a key component of your marketing. There are so many platforms for a customer to voice their opinion about your business—good or bad.

Either way, everyone deserves a response—which could make or break others perception of you.

Hope you enjoyed the read, and could relate! Comment below with some of the ones you’ve heard–we’d love to keep the conversation going.

AND for more advice on how to pull together your sales and marketing, take a look at our Inbound Success Guide! There aren’t as many analogies, but plenty of great knowledge!