Can You Promote What You Don’t Believe?

I remember a time when there was mainly one kind of doctor – a general practitioner. He or she would be the family doctor that took care of all needs. Fast forward 30 years, there are ear, nose and throat specialist; endocrinologists, gynecologists, podiatrists and so on. Marketing is the same. There is no such thing as a “one size fits all” marketer. If you want to promote a book, you need someone who understands book marketing; a movie, movie marketing; medical field requires a medical marketing specialist, and Christian marketing needs a Christian.

Now, if you’re a marketer reading this, your first reaction may be, “You holier than thou, sanctimonious…” which proves my point. This is not to put down any marketer who may be very professional and experienced, being good at several different specialties; but quite frankly, you cannot give what you don’t have.

The Unbelieving Salesperson

The unbelieving Salesperson Have you ever had someone who did not believe in his or her product try to sell you? They need to make a living and cannot find another job at the moment, so they stay with the company they don’t like nor believe in anymore. When they make their pitch, there is no passion, conviction or enthusiasm – in short, you feel like exactly what is happening… you’re being sold.

A very well-known Christian organization wanted to redo their website. They had two designers submit layouts and concepts; however, something wasn’t right, in the words of the Chairwoman. I submitted a layout and her words were, “That’s what I was looking for! It says love, God and joy!”

Now, I do not write this as a pat on my back, but rather to point out the obvious. If you do not read the Bible or believe in Jesus Christ, you miss key points that are deeply profound to the believer – whether in word or picture – and cannot reflect or project the message with impact. If someone does not feel the love, joy and peace, and has no conviction or passion for Jesus Christ, how will he or she convince someone else to believe what he or she does not? I submit to you, they can’t!

So if you’re a Christian organization, author or business, who needs promotion that is God honoring and reflects the joy, love and integrity of Christ, remember what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Do not be unequally yoked…” I think this is good advice in marketing as well.