To be honest, it’s a term I made up. But it does best describe what we do at New Moon Ideas and I’m hoping it will catch on among like-minded marketers and the industry at large eventually (life goals). If I were to try using more traditional marketing terminology, I would say we focus on customer retention strategies that strengthen brand relationships to build trust and loyalty, boost organic growth and prompt acquisition of new sales through customer advocacy. It’s a mouthful of jargon that’s not sexy or fun to say at all. So our version of that translates more along the lines of “Soul Marketing is about brands connecting with people in that warm-hug-from-your-favourite-person-in-the-world kind of way” Now that’s a more approachable opening line right? I know, you need a bit more so read on.
The truth is the best marketing in the world is word of mouth. You want your customers to become fans because if they like you, they will recommend you. Some of these fans will cross that threshold into advocacy, where they believe in you so much that they will sell you into their network of people without hesitation or incentive. This is what I call the fan spectrum (customers | fans | advocates). As marketers we all want to move customers along that funnel towards advocacy, but the reality is you will always have people of value in every category so it’s important to satisfy each stage appropriately. Customers will move back and forth along that spectrum because well, life happens. There is a myriad of reasons why this takes place but what you are hoping is that regardless of where that person may be on your fan spectrum at any given time, they will always find a reason to like you.
Soul Marketing sounds like a simple enough concept but it takes a special blend of science, artistry and magic to get it right. One cocktail doesn’t taste the same to everyone, but the best bartenders know how to mix it to the preferred taste of their regulars. That’s what keeps them coming back and why they bring their friends along from time to time. Luckily, we’ve been doing this new style of marketing for a while now so it’s getting a little easier to explain finally. And to practice what we preach, there’s a fresh, exciting and thoughtful read in our downloadable e-book called “The definitive pocket-guide to Soul Marketing” – if this blurb has sparked your curiosity, I encourage you to check it out or if I’ve only made you thirsty we’re also happy to meet for a drink sometime.