Your book resonates due to the
simple truths of marketing. Can you
speak to how we have gotten away
from those truths over time?
Foundations get lost to fads. You
see, initially fads are built on part of a
foundation. But over time, as one fad
morphs into the next fad, they slowly
lose their connection to the original
foundation upon which they were built.
For example, throughout marketing
history a core foundation has been that
each dollar should be held accountable
for a result, and more specifically, did the
dollar we just spent on marketing bring
back more than a dollar in revenue?
But over time, fads have caused us to
replace this foundational marketing
principle with vanity metrics such as
how many likes, shares, or comments a
post gets.
When it comes to marketing
foundations, we must return to its two
core ingredients: math and human
psychology. Math—because if we don’t
hold each dollar accountable, we have
no way of knowing if our campaigns
are effective. Psychology—because last
time I checked every single organization
on the planet directs their marketing
efforts toward human beings.
Why does the idea “effective
marketing doesn’t have to be
expensive” seem so elusive to the
modern day marketer?
I believe effective marketing eludes
most people for a couple of reasons.
The first is because we, as marketers,
have become lazy and enamored with
vanity metrics. It’s far easier to brag
about the impressions and reach of our
campaigns than to hold our marketing
dollars accountable for metrics that
matter. Increased accountability
12 milkshake
CEO & FOUNDER, UGLY MUG MARKETING
WAYNE MULLINS
AUTHOR SPEAKS TO THE TRUTHS OF
MARKETING
Wayne Mullins is a passionate
entrepreneur committed
to creating remarkable
experiences. He is currently
the CEO and founder of Ugly
Mug Marketing in Alexandria, Louisiana, and
author of the new book, “Full Circle Marketing:
Transform Your Marketing and Turn Them Into Evangelists.”
He has been called “the guru’s guru,” as he is regularly called upon for
advice from industry leading CEO’s, New York Times best selling authors,
and Silicon Valley startups. He has personally worked with clients in 91
different industries, from 34 states, and 11 countries.
Ugly Mug Marketing, which Mullins founded 10 years ago, has won the
praises of some of the leading influencers in the business world, such as Neil
Patel (Founder of QuickSprout & Kissmetrics), Chris Voss (New York Times
best selling author of “Never Split the Difference”), and Ari Weinzweig (Co-
Founder of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses). Mullin’s work directly
influences more than a quarter million entrepreneurs annually through his
blog, books and training programs.
increases predictability. A predictable
marketing system begins with
accountability.
Another reason effective marketing
eludes us is because we confuse
actions and assets, which is a dangerous
mistake for marketers. Here’s how this
typically plays out: We look around
at what our seemingly successful
competitor (or some guru) is doing
and mistakenly believe that if we copy
their actions we will be successful as
well. This rarely works, and the reason is
simple: We mistakenly believe that the
actions we see our competitors taking
are responsible for their success. The
reality is, it isn’t their actions (posts,
videos, certain types of campaigns, etc.)
that are responsible for their success, it
is the assets they are building.
Let’s say our successful competitor
is really good at promoting themselves
on Instagram. Beautiful photos fill their
feed on a daily basis. And it doesn’t
seem to matter what they post, their
followers actively engage with the
content. Copying what they’re doing
seems like a great plan (which is exactly
what the majority of entrepreneurs and
marketers do). But what if we’re terrible
at photography and as a result none
of our images look good? Will copying
their actions (posting on Instagram
everyday) create success for us?
Probably not.
The approach we should take is to
look a layer deeper than their mere
actions. We should start by asking
ourselves, what is the actual asset they
are building? Within the answer to that
question is where the magic lives. You
see, once we know the answer to that
question, it frees us up to work within
our own gifts and abilities. So, the asset
that your successful daily Instagram
posting competitor is building is a highly
engaged audience, and their medium
just happens to be Instagram. Now
the question becomes, based on my
strengths and unique abilities, how can I
April 2022