Lessons from This Is Marketing
Marketing is not about shouting louder.
It is about making change happen.
In This Is Marketing, Seth Godin reframes marketing as an act of service, empathy, and leadership. The goal is not attention at scale. The goal is trust with the right people.
At its core, marketing follows five deliberate steps.
Step One: Invent Something Worth Making
Marketing does not start with promotion.
It starts with creation.
Invent a product, service, or idea that is worth making. One that solves a real problem. One that carries meaning. One that contributes something valuable to the world.
If the thing itself is not remarkable, no amount of marketing will save it.
A useful question to ask is simple.
Who does this help, and how does it make their life better?
Step Two: Design It for a Few People Who Truly Care
Great marketing is not for everyone.
Design and build your offering so that a small group of people will deeply benefit from it. These are not casual users. These are people who will care, advocate, and stay.
This is what Seth Godin calls the smallest viable market.
When you focus on a specific group, clarity improves. The message sharpens. The product gets better.
Trying to please everyone usually leads to pleasing no one.
Step Three: Tell a Story That Matches Their Dreams
People do not buy products.
They buy stories they see themselves in.
Your job is to tell a story that aligns with the values, beliefs, and aspirations of your smallest viable market. The story must be honest. It must be consistent. And it must reflect what the product actually delivers.
Marketing fails when the story promises something the product cannot sustain.
When the story and the experience match, trust grows.
Step Four: Spread the Word Intentionally
Once the story is clear, it must travel.
This is not about going viral.
It is about being shared by the right people, in the right places, for the right reasons.
Word of mouth spreads when people feel understood and respected. When they feel proud to associate with what you have built.
The goal is not reach.
The goal is resonance.
Step Five: Show Up, Consistently and Generously
This step is often overlooked, but it is the most important.
Marketing is not a campaign.
It is a commitment.
Show up regularly.
Show up consistently.
Show up generously.
Do this for years, not weeks.
By showing up, you build confidence in the change you are trying to make. You earn permission to follow up. You earn the right to teach. You earn enrolment, not just attention.
This is how movements are built.
Final Thought
Marketing is leadership.
It is the art of making meaningful change for people who want it.
When you create something worth making, serve a specific group, tell a true story, spread it with care, and show up relentlessly, marketing stops feeling like selling.
It becomes service.
