I have a friend who loves to help people.
He even goes to great lengths to share his "random acts of kindness." online.
From his Instagram profile, he seems like a wonderful person. Someone you wouldn't mind getting caught in traffic with.
I have another friend. This friend is much older—almost triple my age.
She doesn't have an Instagram account (thank God).
I once got to spend an entire day with her. It was spectacular.
This woman would stop certain people in the stores we were shopping in and give them compliments.
One woman was trying to check out with her three children, which was causing a huge ruckus. My friend stopped her, touched her hand (chill, it was before COVID), and told her:
"You're doing an amazing job. Even though it doesn't feel like you are. You are. Go ahead of us so you can get those kids home."
My friend smiled at her for a few seconds. Then, a wave of relief and peace crossed her face.
Sadly, the cashier and I were the only ones to witness this.
Back to my other friend.
I was driving to lunch with him, and we were running late. We were getting close to our exit when a car slowed down and cut us off.
I thought my friend would handle this with grace and kindness; I watch all his Instagram videos.
He didn't. He blared his horn and yelled:
"You stupid bitch! Learn how to drive."
His "random acts of kindness" were not enough to transfer over to his in-the-moment reaction.
What does this have to do with marketing?
My older friend has built, over the years, an infrastructure of kindness. It comes naturally to her.
My other friend has built a "random acts of kindness" mindset instead of an infrastructure of kindness—he's mainly kind when it can be shared and appreciated by others.
Many businesses operate their marketing in the same way—random acts of marketing.
They have no infrastructure for their marketing. It's random and predominantly done for the admiration of others.
Instead of focusing on one-off marketing tactics, focus on the strategy and fundamentals of marketing.
Doing this will serve you better in the long run.
🧠 // JO