How God is Like Marketing
What is Marketing?
Is marketing those polar bear Coca Cola commercials? The spinner guy on the sidewalk that works for Liberty Tax? Or is it a buy one get one 50% off coupon on Facebook?
Is marketing the referral of a friend to your barber. Is it the color of the packaging? Or is marketing another iPhone unboxing video on TikTok?
Marketing is all the above and much more.
To get us on the same page, let's start off with a definition of marketing from Google.
"The action or business of promotion and selling products or services, including market research and advertising."
Still not clear on what marketing is?
Let me offer my own definition of marketing.
"Marketing is anything that attempts to turn someone into a fan of a product or service."
Now let's break down the different ways marketing turns someone into a “fan”.
Marketing helps customers,
F - Find a Company (discover a solution or product)
A - Take Action With a Company (make a purchase)
N - N'teract With a Company (use the product)
Let's look at a quick example of each.
F – The sign spinner alerts us to the tax prep office hidden behind the strip mall bushes. He helps us find the company.
A – The 50% off coupon that expires tomorrow is pushing you to take action to make a purchase right now.
N – The logic behind Apple's meticulous packaging and product presentation is simple: even without an Apple employee present, the company ensures a pleasant first experience with the product. The packaging enhances Apple's customer interaction with the brand.
If the purpose of marketing is to help customers find, take action, and interact with a brand or product, then God has been the ultimate marketer since the beginning of time. In this book, I present that as followers of Christ; we have a responsibility to market God's message of the gospel to the entire world.
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." – Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)
Jesus’ ambitious marketing plan aims to reach the entire world.
For this to happen, we must go beyond creating or being simply "fans" of Christ. We must be radical followers of Jesus. We can't just use the use the product, we must obey Jesus' call to reach and teach others how to live for God. These are the truest fans in marketing, they are called Superconsumers.
"Unlike heavy users (i.e., a product’s highest-volume buyers who are defined simply by the quantity of their purchases), superconsumers are characterized by their attitude as well: they are passionate about and highly engaged with—and maybe even a little obsessive about—a category (say, golf equipment, in the case of my dad).
They are the sneaker-heads who own dozens of pairs of sneakers. They are the sports fans who own replica jerseys and hang signed memorabilia in their finished basements. They are bacon, chops, and carnitas-loving consumers who call themselves “pork dorks.” Superconsumers aren’t random oddballs who buy in bulk.
They’re emotional buyers who base their purchase decisions on their life aspirations."
– Eddie Yoon Superconsumers
Our goal is for people to become Superconsumers and Superproducers for Christ, but to keep things simple to remember, the goal of marketing is to help people become a F.A.N. (Helping people Find, Take Action, N'teract with God or a product) which must happen for them to become Supers.
As a follower of Christ, Jesus has entrusted you with this mission, implying that you are called to be a marketer. This idea might shock and even offend some, but it is true.
Although some marketers may be unsavory, this does not mean that marketing is inherently wrong or evil. Similarly, just because some people who claim to be followers of Christ may not truly represent the faith, it doesn’t mean that Christianity is bad.
You are called to be a marketer for God.
“So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us” - 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NRSV)
Unfortunately, most Christians are not effective marketers.
Our motivation needs to differ from those marketers driven by profit. We should be driven by eternal passion and love. We are aiming to inform everyone that the rescue boat, Jesus, is here and to get on it.
In this book, I will teach you the principles of marketing, drawing from my seven years of experience as an internet marketer.
We will examine the strategies used by great marketers and discover similar principles in the Bible. This book will also provide practical and timeless applications for these principles in your life. My aim is to change your mindset about marketing and help followers of Christ see how we can use principles of marketing to reach the world for God.
I wrote this book as a marketing orientation for Christians.
Whether you are new to the faith, or a long time believer, you’ll find out how you can market our savior in your day-to-day life. You’ll also learn a great deal about internet marketing. While the focus of this book is how to use marketing to reach the lost, these principles are universal and will work for your business as well. The reason these internet marketing principles are effective is because they align with the design that God has set in place.
You may have your doubts, but hang out for a few chapters and I think you’ll end up as surprised as I was when I wrote the book.
I've divided this book into five sections:
Part 1 Marketing 101: Part 1 is an introduction to internet marketing and the principles necessary to turn people into fans of God.
Part 2 Copywriting: Part 2 shows you how to use compelling language to capture attention and call people to action in their relationship with our creator.
Part 3 F–Helping People Find God: Part 3 has strategies to help people realize there is a solution to their problem available. This is an essential aspect of marketing any product or service, including spreading the gospel.
Part 4 A–Helping People Take Action: Part 4 covers how to move someone from awareness to action in order for them to enter the kingdom of God.
Part 5 N–Helping People N'teract with God: Part 5 is about how to foster an ongoing interaction with God to create devoted followers, which is essential for discipleship. Here is where we'll torpedo any notion that we can simply stop at being FANs of God.
Before we dive into these sections, in the first chapter, I’ll address the misconception that marketing is inherently evil.
By exploring marketing principles and how God has been marketing long before the term existed, I hope to dispel any stigma or taboo about being a marketer. Effective marketing doesn't exploit people; it helps them find, take action, and interact with the creator of the universe. By understanding and applying marketing principles, we can fulfill our calling to reach the world with the gospel.
“You are like that illuminating light. Let your light shine everywhere you go so that you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and may turn and praise your Father in heaven because of it.” – Matthew 5:16 (Voice)
Let's discover how God is like marketing.
This observational is from my book God is Like Marketing. You can find the whole book which teaches Christians how to reach the world with the gospel with the help of proven marketing principles.
Did you know you can see previous editions and christian observationals in one central place?
CHECK OUT ALL MY OTHER PUBLISHED ARTICLES BY CLICKING ON THE IMAGE BELOW. WE ARE BUILDING AN EASY TO ACCESS ARCHIVE OF CHRISTIAN OBSERVATIONALS THAT HELP US SEE GOD ALL AROUND US.
