"Money Marketing" 💸
Hello Reader,
A client of mine observed last week that I rarely talk about client results (or my own business) in terms of financial success.
I may generally mention something like "a client was able to increase their revenue by X% after adding X, Y, Z to their marketing strategy," but I don't, as a matter of personal policy use money as the leading benefit of collaborating with me. (Though we often address touchy subjects like revenue stabilization or growth in our work together, to be clear.)
That's absolutely on purpose—and here's why.
I believe that it's up to each of us to define the destination (our success) for ourselves. This honors the truth that what my success looks like differs dramatically from what yours does. My goals are mine and mine alone. Yours are yours and yours alone. It feels misaligned and dishonest to assume.
Our contexts are different. If you're looking to build a sellable business, your financial benchmarks are wildly different than someone whose vision for exiting is scaling down to doing a bit of advising here and there. Similarly, if you're building an agency, your entire business model is different that, say, a consultant who's the face of their company. Context matters a whole lot when we talk about money.
Businesses' needs vary wildly. Some knowledge businesses thrive in a lean structure, others have significant staffing and infrastructure needs. And there's a whole lot in the middle. So, if I said, "X client went from $x to $x," that's meaningless without more information.
My people value their time as much as anything. This is a subtle thing, and an important point, but for my audience I know that while many would like to increase their revenue so they can create more leverage in their businesses. However, most of the people I work with are established enough that they have clear boundaries in what they're willing to sacrifice to do that. They perhaps want their lead generation to be easier, they want more fluency in their messaging so they repel poor-fit clients, they want to elevate their services, all those "fuzzy" intangibles that can lead to more revenue, but also buy more joy and comfort day to day.
Income claims can be legally sketchy and can catch you in a snare in Google. Yes indeed, this is something people need to be cognizant of! In the US, the FTC takes this stuff very seriously, and I think that's great! Furthermore, Google similarly is concerned about content that appears to impact people's financial wellbeing. So, again, this is the kind of content that people need to tread carefully with. That's not to say you can't talk about financial results (there's a testimonial on my homepage in which a client does, and I've previously shared this video in which a client talks about revenue results), but you need to be smart about it. Neither the FTC nor Google care if you meant well but you veered too far to the wrong side of the rules!
To be clear, I'm not saying don't talk about money—so please don't misinterpret me.
What I am saying is that if you do so, be intentional about it, ensure it's aligned with your brand and values, and remember that your audience may be looking for a different outcome. Meet your audience where they're at, but speak to their best self.
Another thing that's also more nuanced than the "more money message" is the there's a spectrum of money, so their best self may be looking to move into a different quadrant beyond just "more."
Like many things, when you dig into the nuance of Money Marketing, the picture is more complex and you, and only you, can determine what's right for your business' marketing right now. Funny how that works, right?
Talk soon,
Sarah
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