Written by Emma (Lannigan) Canham – Marketing Mentor: Strategy, Branding, Communications
Why you should fear holistic marketing
Holistic marketing isn’t some new term I’ve created, I’m pretty sure it’s been around for some years; yet interestingly business owners can feel fear at hearing the words holistic and marketing placed together.
It’s this fear that’s pushing business owners into the ground, working tirelessly to achieve results. You’ve either said it, felt it or heard it from a business owner who perceives themselves to be successful; “I work day and night; start first thing..” And then there’s the emails you receive from a business owner at midnight or 2:30am and you know they are not getting any sleep.
Is this successfully running a business? Let’s stop for a moment and think about what holistic means in the business world. Holistic outside of business is the “Woohoo therapy stuff” right? (I laugh, you laugh (nervously!)
OK, so I’m a holistic marketing mentor, coach and therapist. I didn’t get it straight away and had we stood next to each other 10 years ago I’d not have understood it either. However I soon realised with the additional perspectives you gain from a holistic approach, it showed me how holistic marketing always has been. I was sat in my NLP Practitioner training in 2009 when the trainer was showing the room the strategies and processes of coaching; to myself I was like ‘this is just like writing a marketing plan!’
“Going holistic means integrating marketing throughout your business.” So why should your fear holistic marketing? Here’s some things I’d like to share:
- Marketing goes to the heart of your business and your leadership.
- It questions your purpose and why you are actually in business; to do what?
- A tone, style and message is created, committed to and communicated clearly and effectively with your target audience.
- Marketing analyses and evaluates – it gathers information, facts and builds the truth and foundation of your why, who and what; your services, target audience, products, value and positioning.
- It shines a light through your processes and your people; are you serving and delivering your customers and people with the highest intention? Will they come back? Do they value what you do?
Marketing communications are designed to achieve strategy, and the strategy is designed to achieve business/ marketing objectives. So by skipping these processes you skip the holistic approach to growing your business.
Belief in you
Put it simply, with the growth of start ups and entrepreneurial world we’re in now, passion is huge – and that’s amazing. However self belief and self confidence wobble when the results are not what we expected.
It’s a tough place; facing up to who you are because your business is no longer an idea, it is you. You are your business or the business you lead. Your values, your beliefs, your fears.
Has marketing changed?
No it hasn’t changed; marketing has always been about vision, purpose, the Why, Who, What, Where, When and How, the people, the processes and the physical evidence you support your business with.
What has changed is the way we do business. The business models and the consumer has changed. We’re all evolving and for any business to succeed it really is about creating the holistic foundation to build and grow from.
We need more than ever to be adaptable. It’s harder to adapt and change when we’re not really clear on where we are adapting from. It becomes more of the ‘going blind folded and see what happens’. Some might call this ‘risk taking’ and that’s OK. A lot of marketing is about learning, testing, evaluation, adjusting and growing. Having a clear place (foundation) to grow from whether digitally, in person, b2c or b2b, we are all human, we are all evolving and changing.
The heart of marketing your business
It’s when the risk taking and the lack of real results creates a problem; a social media campaign, a website refresh, a brand refresh for example can be just temporary plasters. Taking a look deeper into the heart of your business you will find the part of the ‘holistic wheel’ you might have over looked; YOU.
So let’s turn it around, what is your WHY? Your Passion? For some businesses (and I’ve witnessed this a few times) it takes for a business to stop performing as well before it gets to a point of reaching out for someone like me (marketeer) to see what we can do. As a marketeer we can offer fresh insights, strategies and approaches, new campaigns, drive new growth. It can also be very clear when talking with a business owner (or business partners) that sometimes their personal passion has evolved too and it’s then about aligning their renewed vision with their business to give it it’s energy back. We can’t ‘fix’ things overnight; marketing is a long game and when integrated into the business as a strategic function, the business gains extra strength.
No more fear
If you’ve read to this point (thank you) you will understand there is no need to fear holistic marketing or marketeers with a holistic approach. In fact, they can save you time and money. They don’t have your fear. They are seeking solutions for growth, to enhance your business; and they will take you through step, by step inside your business looking to make those adjustments you might have feared before.
Holistic marketing is marketing for today. Are you afraid or are you embracing it?
About Guest Contributor: Emma Lannigan is a marketing mentor who for over two decades has been in the field of marketing, from b2b, consumer and many sectors including fabric & textiles, outdoors, publishing, authors, coaches, wellness, rail and transport, manufacturing, hotels and resorts, home decor and many more. www.emmalannigan.com
