Marketing is not that different than dating.  It is about making a love connection.  A marketer is looking for someone who has the potential to fall in love with the product or service they are promoting.  Then they have to figure the right things to do an say to foster that relationship and make it bloom–into a purchase and hopefully something long-term that results in many purchases.

A good matchmaker has to get to know his or her client, and have a good sense for the type of person this client would click with.  The same is true with marketers.

I have found that many businesses and organizations have a product or an idea that they want to sell, but they don’t have an identity, or at least not a clearly defined identity.

It takes some work to develop this separate personality, this public persona.  There are many components to it ranging from something as intangible as attitude to something as concrete as color or font templates.  But, as any good matchmaker will tell you, once you have good idea of who you are, it becomes easier for someone else to make a connection with you.

My recommended activity for this week is to ask yourself if your business has a clearly defined identity or personality?  If you are an agency or freelance marketer, ask yourself if you can pinpoint a personality for each of your clients.  (For now, think about the company as a whole, not specific products.)

If the business in question has a clearly defined personality, is it being projected consistently throughout your marketing materials?  How could you make it easier for customers and potential customers to get to know the business, to feel comfortable with it, to feel like they are ready to start a relationship?