Why You Should Treat Your Marketing Like Choosing a Winning Stock

A while ago, I decided to try my hand at day trading. I’m here to tell you, it was a really bad idea. I didn’t do so well and one of the reasons is because I didn’t do my research. As a matter of fact, I didn’t know what research to do or how to do it. I was relying on emails that were coming in with stock tips.

I didn’t know anything about stock trading and I really learned how little I knew when I started listening to some books on Blinkist about how to become a day trader and how to buy stocks. One of the things that they teach you is there are specific indicators that you need to be aware of and research before you purchase a stock. And even when you do that, there’s no guarantee because nobody can predict the future, but you’re going to have a better chance of potentially making money.

Take Stock In Your Marketing

What I want to talk to you about today is why you should treat your marketing like choosing a winning stock. I wouldn’t try to give you any advice about stock trading, but I do have a little advice about marketing since I’ve been doing that for about 40 years and have been pretty successful at it. So as I started listening to these books, I took away six key points that you need to think about when you begin to research your marketing.

Determine Your Goals

The first thing that you want to do is determine your goals. What is it that you want to achieve? When it comes to the stock market, more often than not, you’re looking at how to have a better retirement, maybe you want to pay for your child’s education, or maybe you’re just trying to create financial stability.

When it comes to marketing, it’s the same thing. What are your business revenue goals? How do you optimize your system and your talents and how well does that fit with your process? Once you have a clear indication of where you want to go, then you can start building from there.

Keep Your Eyes Open

The next piece is to keep your eyes open. Look for indicators. What triggers can you find? In the stock market, there are events like downturns, or maybe somebody is announcing a new product or a new market they’re getting into, or other general market trends. In the marketing world, you can look for some press releases, something on social media, or blog posts that might give you an indication of a company that you might want to work with.

Market To Companies, Then People

The next thing we’re going to look at is how we market. You want to start marketing to companies and then to people. The key thing to focus on when you’re marketing is to stick with things that you know and things that you’re good at. In the stock market, we want to look at industries that we understand. Is it consumer or B2B based? And are there specific products that we actually use that we know that we understand?

When it comes to marketing, if you’re going to look for a company to work with, you want to look for the same things. What industries do you have a passion for? Do you prefer to work with a company that’s consumer-based or B2B based? And also, what niches are they in? Are they in a place where you feel comfortable talking about their technology and their systems? After you have identified the company, then you want to look for possible direct connections you may have on Linkedin. Or maybe you know someone well enough who knows someone at the company who can make an introduction for you.

Know Their Story

The next thing that you want to research is their story. What are their brands saying that excites you? In the stock market, you want to look at who they are serving. And does that company match the values that you have in your day-to-day life?

When it comes to marketing, we want to do something similar. We can look at how the company that we want to work with serves their audience. Is their message congruent with our beliefs? Do we feel like we can appreciate what they’re saying? And do they match our values?

Review Their Marketing

The next piece is to dig deeper and start doing the research on their current marketing. How are they presenting themselves, to not only their audience that they’re selling to, but to the general public? In the stock market, you want to look at how they are talking to their customers. What does their advertising say? Where do they advertise? How are they getting their message across? Is it believable? Is it real?

Finally, are they more focused on how they are talking to their customers, or are they more focused on pleasing their stockholders? You have to figure out who they’re answering to.

When you’re doing marketing, you want to figure out how you can fit into their business and serve them with the products and services that you provide. Are you aligned with the way that they’re presenting themselves to the rest of the world?

Diversified Portfolio

Finally, you want to make sure that you diversify. You want to create a good mix for your business. In the stock market, you want to put together a group of different stocks, not just one. You wouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. So you want to look at a mix of products and services and maybe somebody who’s integrated and does both? Maybe they have a business that has to do with supply chain or national security? Whatever it is, do you feel you could benefit from having them in your portfolio?.

When you’re marketing your business, try to find companies that are complementary to what you’re already doing and where you want to go in the future. Look for the companies and the industries and the niches that work very well with what your business is set up to do.

Tools Of The Trade

Now, the best stock traders have a lot of tools at their fingertips. There’s a lot of financial information out there that they can research, either paid-for services or free services. But, nothing is more powerful than a relationship with somebody who already knows the company inside and out. If there’s a company that you want to work with, you have a lot of tools at your fingertips.

Look at the company’s website and try to figure out, is their messaging aligned with where I’m going? Do I know somebody at that company or do I know somebody who knows somebody at that company that I can speak with? Go through your CRM, your LinkedIn, and try to find somebody you can have a conversation with. If those things align, then you have to decide what makes the most sense for your business. Is this going to be a good fit for the long run?

Final Thoughts

I know that some people look at the stock market as a high level of legalized gambling and to some degree, it is! That’s because you can’t predict the future. You wouldn’t go into a casino and dump all of your money on red or black on a roulette wheel and just pray for the best, right? Why would you want to do the same thing with your business? The more you research and the more you get to know, the better chance you have of becoming a successful stock marketing person.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas, or questions about approaching marketing the same way you approach the stock market. Have you had to overcome any of the presented concepts? What worked and what did not live up to expectations? Do you have any ideas or advice you could share?