Don't become a marketing liar

I'd like to think of myself as an honest person but I have to admit, during my landscaping business days that I fell in to the marketing liars trap: it wasn't my intention to tell lies and I didn't even consider them to be lies at the time but I knew no better; everyone seemed to do it and 'liars marketing' seemed to wipe the floor with honest marketing.

However, having said all of the above, I knew I was uncomfortable with statements that (not even deep down) I knew were wrong and I have to admit, due to my personal nature and a strong desire to get things right I quickly ditched the approach and reverted to being myself, regardless of whether a competitor stole a march and won more business.

I'm sure you know the kind of statements I'm referring to? 'X number of people attended our event' when in truth the figure was really way down on what got published or perhaps you read subscriber numbers of X,000s when in reality the figure is four or five years old and the the real number are substantially lower.

Today's internet world has made it harder to make statements that cannot be substantiated with forums exposing marketing lies very quickly.

It doesn't matter how big or small your business is, honesty is the very best policy and if you adopt a liar's approach in this digital age you should expect to be found out very quickly.

Seth Godin is a marketing blogger I have followed for some time now and I would recommend you taking some time to read some of his stuff and especially his 'marketers are liars' blog (or book).

Seth's blog not only points out some of the techniques to avoid, he also gives you an insight to how a marketing liar thinks.

I'd also recommend you bookmark Seth Godin's main blog.

Fantastic post .... so very true. I've been marketing for years and always found the truth to be the best approach. ...
I had a set to with a landscaper recently who put other people's photos on his site. He felt that it was ok to do so as he was just illustrating what was possible. I was explaining that as the images were on his site it intimated that it was his work. What was really funny was that it was an australian company with pictures that were obviously from the US ,, specifically Virginia.

But the thing is, that if you are completely transparent, its the best marketing ever. People love people who tell the truth. They just love it. And they are willing to give anyone a go if you just be straight about your experience and so on. AND .. charge accordingly.

Replies

Lawncare-4u.co.uk November 14, 2010 at 6:57pm

thanks . the truth will set you free . i agree . i studied marketing Hnd and mine is 'honesty pays)
Felicity Waters November 14, 2010 at 9:34pm

great post - 100% agree

there is another shady area of marketing: organisations that leave out the fine print . I can not believe how ruthless some organisations are. It really is buyer beware.
Daniel Johnson III March 9, 2013 at 9:20pm

Fantastic post .... so very true. I've been marketing for years and always found the truth to be the best approach. ...
I had a set to with a landscaper recently who put other people's photos on his site. He felt that it was ok to do so as he was just illustrating what was possible. I was explaining that as the images were on his site it intimated that it was his work. What was really funny was that it was an australian company with pictures that were obviously from the US ,, specifically Virginia.

But the thing is, that if you are completely transparent, its the best marketing ever. People love people who tell the truth. They just love it. And they are willing to give anyone a go if you just be straight about your experience and so on. AND .. charge accordingly.
Ben Lannoy March 10, 2013 at 10:50pm

I'm with you on this Phil. The internet is a shady place it seems now that the only way to win trust is to be 100% transparent. This is the only way you'll have people let their guard down and put there confidence in you to enjoy what you have to offer. I believe that you should give all the value you can away without asking back. Big fan of Seth Godins books too and have to keep addressing 'the dip' to make sure I'm not giving away useless info.
Rachel Mathews SGD March 12, 2013 at 11:52am

I think customers are wising up to the dishonest side of marketing and find it a turn off. I totally agree that only being your honest self is the way to go!
Ofer El-hashahar March 23, 2013 at 10:32am

I am a great believer that reputation worth a lot, a lot more than few sales...
I know I had years of frustration to see how some large firms do not work in honesty while i invested everything in my business and was 100% honest, yet some people were very suspicious...

It is why i think, that there must be lots of others good firms there that we should not be too negative, and give some good amount of trust in people.

There is an old say: "Respect and suspect" . But first respect.