Egotistic vs. Empathetic Marketing

There are two major approaches to marketing.

One is egotistic, while the other is empathetic.

The egotistic approach is focused mostly on selling – I have a product, and I’m going to convince you that you need it; I may not care whether you really need it or not, but by God I’m going to sell it to you – and I’m going to sell it to you at a profit.

The empathetic approach is focused on classic marketing concepts – understand the needs of the customer, and deliver a product that fits those needs along the four dimensions of the "4 P's" (Product, Price, Promotions, Place).

As a marketer, if you’ve properly completed your prework (market research and product development), taken the necessary steps to make the customer aware of your product (promotions and communications), and placed and priced your product in a way that enables him to purchase it with reasonable convenience (pricing and distribution) – there will be little need for selling; instead, there’ll be buying.

This delineation can be compared to the push/pull marketing paradigm; egotistic is mostly push, while empathetic is mostly pull. Egotistic marketing may be effective over the short term, but those of you hoping to capitalize on the success of your business in the long term will be better off adopting an empathetic approach.

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