4 signals to help you spot what’s behind your marketing that you might not consciously see. This episode encourages you to review the energy behind your content. It’s a conversation about fear, compassion, and the difference between proving and actually connecting. Not a how-to, a perspective shift that may drive better results from your marketing efforts.
Resources
- Tool of the Week 👉 Streak for Gmail.
I love this tool! Mostly for the ability to get links to specific emails. I used to use it for workflow when I did various types of outreach and wanted to follow up. It has multiple ways to view emails, whether it’s incoming support or sales. The free version used to let you save templates. That used to be my favorite part because of the batching capability. - Recommended Podcast 👉 You Don’t Need More Discipline, You Need More Trust on the Small Business Straight Talk podcast.
Talk about hitting the nail on the head, looking in a mirror all those cliches. If you think you’ve failed at improving discipline or if you keep moving your tasks to the next day, this is would be a good episode to check out.
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I was on my run the other morning after having done a little work around typing up some notes for my copywriter on an upcoming blog piece. The work title is “Podcast Guesting as a shortcut marketing tactic.”
And in particular I made note that I did not want to include a pitch template. That is not what this particular piece is; it’s not a full guide and frankly, there are a ton of resources already out there that provide it.
I want this piece to be my personal experience; kind of insider tips if you will.
Anyone, on my run, the idea of marketing from fear or passion popped into my head. And it totally relates to how this blog post came together.
I pulled out my phone to voice note and I started rambling and basically had this whole episode worked out before I finished my run. Talk about multi-tasking!
So the question is, are you marketing from fear or compassion?
At first I thought maybe it was fear or passion but to me our passion is what we do. Compassion is how it comes through.
While we start our businesses from a need we had or a need we saw in the market, some of us tend to market our business in a way that tries to push our service in front of people, rather than talk about what our audience is dealing with.
This is marketing from a place of fear.
In the context of this topic, I’m not talking about instilling fear to the reader by using urgency language.
I’m talking to a bunch of blog posts or articles or pages that justify what we know, how we know it, and that we know it well.
It’s a fear of something from ourselves.
- Fear we’re doing “it” wrong.
- Fear we’re not good enough.
- Fear of success.
- Fear of being called out as wrong. (I can’t imagine where that example came from… wink wink or this next one)
- Fear of visibility bringing more responsibility than our subconscious thinks its ready for.
- Or fear from a tangible circumstance like an empty sales funnel.
If we’re marketing from compassion, our marketing says, “I see you, dear ideal client.”
When we market from compassion, our expertise comes across as help, not needy feeling.
Fear-based marketing comes from lack. I need clients. I need attention. I need validation.
And that energy shows up as “look at me, look at my credentials, look at what I do.”
An example of that is how-to articles when you’re not in the business of teaching.
I did this. When I first started, that’s all I did. Lots of steps articles and how tos.
I think how-to’s can have their place.
How-to’s gave me something to point prospects to if had discussions or even clients to reference. They helped open people’s eyes to a process they didn’t know existed.
From that perspective, they’re valuable.
Compassion feels different. Marketing messaging reads as service, for people. For their benefit. It carries authority and credibility without shouting it.
So how does this tie into search visibility and having your website show up when people are searching for what you offer?
When you market from compassion, you move away from content that’s already been done a million times. There are a million fear-based pieces out there. A million how-to’s written from a place of proving.
When compassion drives your messaging, you move into a smaller, more unique bucket.
That’s where your “you-nicornness” lives.
That’s what makes someone choose you instead of a competitor.
That’s where authority and credibility actually come from.
Here’s 4 signals to better understand how your marketing might be coming across.
[1] What’s the content mostly doing? Proving or understanding?
Scroll your last 10 posts. Are they about you or about the moment your client is in?
If most of your content is:
• “Here’s what I know”
• “Here’s why I’m qualified”
• “Here’s how much experience I have”
That’s fear-driven marketing.
If most of your content is:
• “I see what you’re dealing with”
• “Here’s the moment you’re stuck in”
• “Here’s what this looks like in real life”
That’s Compassion-driven marketing.
[2] Are you teaching to help… or teaching to hide
Does your how-to content sound like a manual… or like a conversation with someone you want to help?
Fear-driven how-to content:
• Feels like a wall of steps
• Tries to sound airtight and perfect
• Reads like “don’t question me”
Compassion-driven how-to content:
• Explains why something matters
• Admits nuance
• Sounds like “here’s how I’d approach this”
[3] What emotion does your call to action carry?
Is your CTA trying to pressure… or invite?
Fear-based CTAs sound like:
• “Book now before you fall behind”
• “Don’t make this mistake”
• “You need this”
Compassion-based CTAs sound like:
• “If this feels familiar…”
• “This might be your next step”
• “Here’s a way I can help”
[4] What’s the energy of your credibility
Is your credibility coming from labels or from lived situations your audience recognizes?
Fear-driven credibility looks like:
• Long lists of certifications
• Heavy emphasis on years, tools, tactics
• “Look at me” energy
Compassion-driven credibility looks like:
• Real examples
• Situations you recognize
• “Here’s what this looks like in practice”
The Takeaway
Compassion-driven marketing is easier to keep doing.
When your marketing comes from fear, you’re always trying to prove something. It’s sooo exhausting!
When it comes from compassion, you’re just talking about what you see and what you know can help.
It feels like contributing, which always feels good!
