Your bottom line may be revenue, but the best marketing is rarely a straight demand for people to buy your stuff and link them directly to your storefront. This is the critical part of marketing that many businesses fail to see: it is as much about building your brand (the presence of your business) as it is about directly landing sales. Today we’re going to talk about the heavy lifting that “soft marketing” can do.
What is Soft Marketing?
Soft marketing is the “soft sell” sales strategy applied to your marketing approach. A soft sell (as opposed to a hard sell) is about providing a place your customer wants to be, rather than forcing a direct sell. Soft marketing isn’t about asking for your customers’ money; it’s about providing content—helpful, emotionally soothing content—that builds trust with customers. Showing authenticity and expertise to win over a customer instead of demanding it.
How to Build Relations with Your Customers
You need to build relations with your customers. Not only one-on-one channels of communication, but public ones where people can see your interactions with other customers. This includes creating spaces for them to learn, react, and talk.
- Stay Connected: Make sure as many communication channels as possible are open to your customers. Not sure about a phone number, an online form, or an email address, but also social media platforms and messengers (at least the ones you’re active on).
- Provide Education: Many businesses rely on showing expertise to attract customers, and education is a powerful form of expertise marketing. Showing knowledge through writing and showing (video) also allows for questions and discussions.
- Entertain Them: If you can be entertaining, social media is a great place to show it. Photos and video work especially well, showing off your business in work and play. Is your business boring? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered here.
5 Ways You Can Start Soft Marketing Today
- Start a blog. Blog writing is one of the best ways to show expertise. Not only is it great for search engines and AI agents, but it’s also great for social media and newsletters, giving people something to talk about and share.
- Show your company’s culture. People want to see the behind-the-scenes of your business. Take and show photos and videos of your team having fun. Have an About Us page on your website. Have fun.
- Keep communication open with customers. It’s not always fun, but you need to keep all channels open with customers, including review platforms. Responding to reviews and resolving them is a great way to build trust.
- Be authentic. People buy from people, so you need to show that behind your brand. Avoid being too detached and professional online, especially when talking with customers. Authenticity is also the best way to fight against low-effort AI marketing.
- Start a newsletter. Starting a newsletter or other forms of email marketing (such as a nurture sequence) can keep you on your customers’ radars without them feeling pressured to unsubscribe.
If every interaction you have with customers is a sales pitch, people are going to start ignoring you like you ignore spam emails. Providing a place for people to talk to you, keeping the door open in communication, and engaging them with fun content are all forms of soft marketing that pay off in the long term. Want to know how to integrate soft marketing into your business? Contact Vision today. Want to see more examples? Check out the rest of our Vision blogs, our enVisioning Success podcast, and our downloadable Marketing Strategies Playbook.
