Marketing is not about you

Last week I was invited to sit on a panel at the AIGA Orange County big self -promotion expo. My colleagues on the panel included Steve Morris, Petrula Verontikis, Mick Hodgson and John Travis, VP of Brand Marketing at Adobe. He represented the client side.

At one point one of the attendees asked John, “What do you look for when you receive a marketing piece and what do you usually get?”

John shared with us that most of the design firms that contact him take a lot of time talking about themselves—their accomplishments. Very few actually talk about how they can help him with his needs.

“I don’t really care what you have accomplished for other clients or what awards you’ve won," he explained. "I want to know that you care about what it is I need and that you do exceptional work.”

Do your marketing materials focus on yourself or your client? Are you sending a message that says “I care about what you need help with and here is how I can help you?” Something to think about.