Have you ever noticed the moment you want something, you start to see it everywhere? Or the moment you buy something you think is unique, it too starts appearing everywhere?
It’s called the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. It’s caused by two psychological processes. First, selective attention starts when you’re struck by a new word, thing, or idea and then you unconsciously keep an eye out for it. This unconscious thinking lends you to see/find it frequently. Second, confirmation bias kicks in to reassure you that what you’re seeing is in fact what you’ve been thinking about.
A Real Life Example
When my daughter Emily was born, we spent months trying to come up with the perfect name. We finally picked Emily Grace. EMILY was picked because, as an acronym, it stands for “Every Moment I Love You”. Grace was picked because of its elegance and regal sentiments and in honor of a friend’s stillborn child, whose name was Gracie.
Other than that, I was not aware that I knew anyone with the name “Grace” or “Gracie”. Since Emily was born, I can name at least 10 people who have kids older than our daughter with the same (or a very similar version) of her name.
How This Applies to Marketing!
Once you make the decision to implement a marketing change and you become serious about taking your marketing message to a new level — the person to teach and guide you will appear.
Sometimes this is in the form of a book landing unexpectedly in your lap. Maybe it will come in the form of a random social media post in your newsfeed. Perhaps you will meet a new mentor or discover a newsletter worth subscribing to.
Open a New Marketing Door
Here’s the key. Don’t be afraid to walk through the new door. The only way to get better results for your business is to try new marketing ideas. Search out the ones with proven results behind them and jump on the opportunity to learn how to implement them from people with experience.
One of my favorite sayings from Helen Keller is, “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
The quote can also be applied to business.
So often a marketing strategy that worked well two years ago seems to lose its luster and fizzle. Yet businesses hold on to the strategy because it worked in the past. They spend so much time trying to revive the old marketing technique that they miss the opportunity to implement something new.
Mended Marketing was started to help small businesses who find themselves in this rut. I am often amazed at the number of people who send me emails saying things like, “Your blog post today was just what I needed to hear. I had been thinking about this problem, but I just couldn’t figure out how to fix it.”
And that, my friends, is the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon at work.
Are you looking for new marketing ideas for your business? Call us at 903-490-7520 or email mendedmarketing@gmail.com for a free 30-minute consultation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tina Bell is the founder of Mended Marketing. She developed her marketing experience serving a variety of industries, mostly in smaller sized companies, where she was hired to build their marketing programs. These experiences provided her the opportunity to wear many hats and learn multiple facets of marketing. She spent over six years in medical marketing, helping build an urgent care business from two urgent care clinics to over 13 clinics in four states. In addition to being well versed in copywriting, grassroots and community marketing initiatives, Tina is a sought after speaker and regularly presents educational webinars. She was ranked the top speaker at the Urgent Care Association of America Conference and spearheaded the development of an online medical training newsletter before she left that industry to start her own marketing firm.