Karma is defined (in Hinduism and Buddhism) as the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.
Brand Karma is the goodwill customers feel towards your brand that creates positive results.
As a mission-driven marketer, I’ve had the rare opportunity to help important teachers in the personal development market like Brandetize’s Brian Tracy, Deepak Chopra, and Eckhart Tolle amplify their messaging.
Watching the impact of these legacy thinkers on their enormous fan following has taught me the power of positive messaging in both creating a better world and a profitable business.
These teachers success is proof that what you send out in the world is directly proportional to what you get back.
Over the last few months, I’ve also been earning my 200-hour yoga teaching certification.
As a yogi, I view the work of my life, or my dharma, as spiritually tied to my own personal karma.
So I naturally became interested in how I could apply what I was learning on the mat to my professional work as a marketer.
Specifically, I was interested in the ethical principles outlined in the yoga sutra. They’re called the Yamas (social restraints) and the Niyamas (self-discipline).
They are supposed to guide practitioners to live a better life.
That got me thinking…
How can we as marketers use these laws to create better marketing campaigns?
Here are my top 3 ways principles from the Yamas and Niyamas that will help you create good karma for your brand.
Get The Latest Marketing Buzz Directly to Your Inbox! Join the Brandetize Newsletter
1. Satya
The second Yama, Satya represents truthfulness in all scenarios. People practicing Satya are honest with their words and actions and they do not lie.
How to Practice Satya in Marketing
Do what you say you’re going to do. If you say something in a marketing campaign, follow through with it. Don’t make false claims in your advertising or create false urgency.
For example…
If you have a “no questions asked” refund policy. Don’t ask any questions when your customer wants to return something. If you have a “4 hours until cart closes” news blast, then close your cart in 4 hours. Don’t send out more emails for 4 days advertising “now the cart is really going to close in 4 hours.”
Nobody likes spending $1,000 a ticket on Cher’s “final farewell tour,” only to see her on tour a few years later.
Doing this creates trust and positive goodwill in the minds of your customers. When you stand by your word and follow through on what you’ve sold you deliver honest customer experiences.
2. Brahmacharya
The 5th Yama. Brahmacharya represents the art of sustaining energy and not depleting your spiritual energy. It can also, in its extreme sense, refer to celibacy.
How to Practice Brahmacharya in Marketing
Don’t overdo it. Too many sales, emails, social posts, and phone calls are exhausting to execute on your end and is exhausting to experience on your customer’s end.
Be mindful of your brand’s energy and power and wield it wisely.
For example, having a flash sale every week will eventually deplete the potency of your pricing. Don’t be the boy who cried wolf.
The “fire energy” of sales can literally burn through your brand’s long term profitability. Also, don’t exhaust your list by sending too many emails. Sending too often can damage the magnetism of your brand’s messaging.
When you practice brahmacharya in your marketing you create a brand that customers will want to engage with for years to come. When you send, people will read. When you post, people will share.
You will increase the value of your message by making it more intentional instead of reactionary.
3. Santosha
Niyama. Meaning contentment. Don’t strive for the sake of striving. Let go of what doesn’t serve you. Know what is important and be okay letting go of what is not.
How to Practice Santosha in Marketing
Don’t try and be good at all things. Don’t create products and campaigns just for creation’s sake.
Do less to create more value.
For example, stressing yourself out so you can be on the “latest and greatest” social platform isn’t necessarily going to translate to value and is an energy suck.
Trying to launch a new eCourse from scratch every quarter just because everybody else is doing it is an example of striving for striving’s sake.
Instead, survey your customers, ask what they want and only offer what is going to truly benefit them. Save your energy for the big ideas!
When you practice Santosha you create a clear and organized customer journey. You offer your customers the products they want when they want them. You don’t strive to dominate on all fronts because you know that 90% off all ideas aren’t a good fit for your brand.
More Marketing Tips Inspired by Yoga
The options for using yoga principles to boost your marketing are endless, but here are a few other bits of wisdom to market by:
Offer Modifications
Just like your favorite yoga teacher does in yoga class, offer ways to have your customers meet you where they are. For example, if 50% of your traffic is mobile, make sure you have a modified mobile experience for those people.
Adjustments
Marketing changes over time and you always can be growing and evolving. Adjust your campaigns based off of performance, knowing that you will never get it 100% perfect.
Give to Get
The more free value you give, the more you will get that positive value coming back to you. Focus on helping people and the profits will come.
Which of these brand karma tips are you going to implement in your business?
