Is It True That You Can Only Market to People Like Yourself?
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Co-creator of Perceptual Style Theory
In the recent Spotlight U program, Nancy Marmolejo and I introduced the concept of Spotlight Style. As internet marketers, we draw people to our offerings by shining a spotlight on ourselves, our personalities, and our unique gifts and talents. We do this by using our Spotlight Style. The key to effectively promoting ourselves and our businesses is to build on our natural strengths—and that's where Spotlight Style comes in.
Understanding Your Natural Marketing Style
Much of what we sell is information—products and services based on what we know and believe will be valuable to others. Our offerings naturally reflect our individual personalities, experiences, and strengths. In many ways, they put a spotlight on who we are.
The Three Spotlight Styles
Each person's Spotlight Style reflects their unique combination of skills, talents, and life experiences, yet certain common characteristics allow us to identify broader patterns. The three Spotlight Styles we have researched are Brand Evangelist, Practical Engineer, and Trusted Advisor. These titles provide a shorthand way of understanding how people with each style approach marketing and self-promotion, which marketing tools they feel most comfortable using, and how they interact with prospective and existing clients.
The underlying principle also connects with our work in Perceptual Style Theory: people naturally approach situations differently, and those differences influence how they communicate, interact, and use their strengths. Recognizing these differences can help us become more intentional about how we present ourselves while remaining responsive to the needs and preferences of others.
Can Changing Your Marketing Style Cost You Clients?
One participant in the Spotlight U program was excited to discover that her natural Spotlight Style supported a very different approach to marketing than the one she had been using. She had chosen her existing marketing tools largely because everyone else was using them, even though they never felt particularly comfortable. The tools associated with her natural style, however, fit her to a T! But her excitement was accompanied by a concern. If she changed the way she marketed herself, would she lose clients who had connected with the “old” her? She worried that her new approach would appeal only to people who shared her Spotlight Style, leaving some of her current clients behind.
Marketing Authentically Without Limiting Your Audience
I have encountered this concern before—the belief that you can only attract and market to people like yourself. Often, people initially confuse marketing style with marketing content. In the case of our program participant, she assumed that choosing marketing methods that more accurately reflected her Spotlight Style would also require changing what she offered. She worried that clients who valued her existing products and services might no longer be interested. Here's the good news: while your content may naturally reflect your style, understanding the different Spotlight Styles allows you to create marketing messages, products, and services that appeal to people with any of the three styles.
Discovering and claiming your Spotlight Style doesn't have to limit your appeal to current or prospective clients. Quite the opposite. As you become more comfortable using marketing tools that align with your natural strengths, your confidence and authenticity can become more evident in the way you present your offerings. That confidence, combined with a genuine understanding of your audience's needs, can help you build trust and connect with people who will benefit from what you have to offer, regardless of whether they share your Spotlight Style.
So, don't let anyone convince you that you can only market to people like yourself. Discover your natural Spotlight Style, build on the marketing approaches that feel authentic to you, and remain open to the different ways your audience may connect with your message. When you combine confidence in your own strengths with an understanding of others, you create opportunities to reach people who can genuinely benefit from what you have to offer.
Have you ever felt pressured to use marketing methods that didn't fit your personality or natural strengths? What happened when you tried a different approach? Share your experience or questions in the comments below.
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About Lynda-Ross
Lynda-Ross Vega is a partner at Vega Behavioral Consulting, Ltd. She specializes in helping corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, and individuals with interpersonal communications, team dynamics, personal development, and navigating change. Lynda-Ross is co-creator of Perceptual Style Theory, a revolutionary behavioral psychology theory and assessment system that teaches people how to unleash their natural strengths and build the life and career they dream of.
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