Coconut Water or Gatorade? (Weird but Memorable Marketing Advice)

Introduction

This is an excerpt from Delightful Sites — a weekly email series helping therapists, coaches, and entrepreneurs build sustainable, values-aligned businesses, through the power of website marketing. 💐

When I’m dehydrated, my go-to drink is coconut water. 🥥 My partner loves Gatorade. 

It is a running joke between us that we each find the other’s drink of choice to be rather gross.

I don’t like Gatorade because it’s too sweet for me & makes me break out. I prefer the refreshing taste of coconut water.

Meanwhile, my partner considers coconut water to be “one of the weirdest things” he’s ever tasted.

Why do I bring this up? 

👉🏽 Because in terms of marketing your services: you’re going to be someone’s coconut water or Gatorade.

Some people will be attracted to your practice & want to work with you.

Some people will decide, “that’s not for me” & move on. It’s not because your services aren’t valuable; it’s because they need something different than what you’re offering. 

The things that my partner enjoys about Gatorade (the sweet taste, the easy access in most stores)… 

…are different from the things that I enjoy about coconut water (the refreshing taste, the hydrating effects). 

And that is the whole point: we have different preferences, and we value different things when picking a drink. Neither the coconut water nor the Gatorade industry will be going out of business anytime soon, because there are enough people in the world who value the unique qualities of these distinct drinks. 

So, here’s for some weird but memorable marketing advice:

Be like coconut water. 

Or be like Gatorade. 

(Your choice 😉)

The point is: be unapologetically you. Don’t water yourself down to try to appeal to everyone. 

It’s not possible to be liked by everyone anyway, so you might as well commit to being yourself — which will attract the right people. 

If you commit to being coconut water-y, then the coconut water-drinkers will find you. 

(And yes, that might mean that some Gatorade-drinkers, apple juice fans, or tea-lovers will walk away. But none of us are meant to serve everyone, and often the deepest work happens when we are serving the people for whom we are the best fit.)

Whatever makes you unique as a practitioner — whether it’s your personality, your clinical approach, your lived experiences that allow you relate deeply to your clientele, or all of the above — is worth highlightingin your marketing. 

Don’t hide yourself. Be yourself… and let your people find you. 🙌🏽

Cheers,

Liz

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