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Tangled in terminology
I just read a great article by digital marketing guru Mitch Joel about the goals of marketing in the wild world of social media. He talked about the difference between huge social media numbers compared to smaller numbers of the right people, and the difference between loud and thoughtful messages to that audience (I’m oversimplifying for the sake of brevity – check out the full article here).

The heading “Built to touch” jumped out at me, for what I hope are obvious reasons: the layers of meaning can become a seamless transition from the work you make to the way you reach your audience.

I left a comment about how so many creatives don’t trust the simplicity of engaging their audiences and used the word “marketing” instead of “promotion.”

I forgot where I was and went into blurt mode. Open keyboard, insert foot.

Mitch diplomatically reminded me that marketing is a combination of things, and promotion is just one part of the marketing picture. (The standard list, if you’re interested, is product, price, place and promotion.)

“Great,” I thought, as I hastily typed a follow-up, “he thinks I’m an idiot.”

Words to inspire, not intimidate

If I were to play by the rules, I’d talk about those four Ps and how they all fit together in a marketing strategy. I could really go overboard and talk about supply chain management, but if I did that you wouldn’t be here (and neither would I).

There are a couple of reasons I don’t do that: one is many people use marketing and promotion interchangeably. But mostly I don’t do it because the technicalities of terminology can really bog you down.

Granted, none of those words are very long, or remotely difficult to understand, but calling art, or craft, or design a product isn’t particularly inspiring. For many creatives, the mere thought of promotion can tighten your throat and make your hands clammy.

I talk a lot about promotion (without calling it that) because it’s the big scary part for most creatives, and the place where the wheels usually come off.

When you’re trying to wrap your head around things that unnerve you, how you learn is just as important as what you learn. So I don’t sweat the labels too much.

When the rules are mostly guidelines
If you like structure, you can use the textbook marketing Ps (and add a few more for good measure), or you can make up your own list.

How about this: there’s a what, who, where, how much, and “you had me at hello.”

Or this: put your work in the hands of the right people at the right price (for them and for you). Find them, bring a little wow, and make it easy for them to buy.

Or if you prefer to go visual, imagine the whole thing like a scene in a movie. Your work, your customer, the place where you sell it, and the money in her hand.

Whatever way you approach it, the big umbrella of marketing will get you where you’re going. As long as all the elements are in place and properly aligned, it doesn’t much matter what you call them.

What matters most
 in “marketing”
What matters is you don’t convince yourself you can’t do it, or that you need a commerce degree, or that you have to do things the “right” way, or in the “right” order.

What matters is you pay attention to what works, and what doesn’t.

What matters most is to remember that marketing, like your creative practice, evolves. You learn new things, you explore, you observe and execute.

What do you think? Do you prefer to play by the rules, or do you work better when you make your own? Or do any of those labels matter to you—is getting the work done the only thing you care about?

About the author: Stacey Cornelius is a writer and professional butt-kicker. She helps empower artists, designers, writers and craftspeople to do their best work and show it to the world. Sign up for her free, jargon-busting foundation marketing email class right here. Want to chat? Follow Stacey on Facebook.