Jesus told the parable of the sower to explain why the same message produces wildly different results in different people. A farmer scatters seed broadly. Some falls on the path and birds eat it. Some falls on rocky ground and springs up quickly but withers. Some falls among thorns and gets choked out. Some falls on good soil and produces a hundredfold return.<\/p>\n
Jesus’s interpretation is theological. But the mechanic of the parable is also a precise description of how marketing works.<\/p>\n
The seed is your message. Your offer. Your content. Your landing page copy. The soil is your audience \u2014 specifically, the readiness of each individual in your audience to receive that message at this particular moment.<\/p>\n
The path is the person who sees your message but it never penetrates. They’re not the wrong person necessarily \u2014 they might be exactly who you’re trying to reach \u2014 but something in their life right now is preventing the message from landing. They’re distracted, overwhelmed, not in the right headspace. The message bounces.<\/p>\n
The rocky ground is the person who responds quickly \u2014 opts in, gets excited, maybe even purchases \u2014 but doesn’t have the depth to follow through. They buy the course and never open it. They schedule the call and no-show. Their interest is real but thin.<\/p>\n
The thorny ground is the person who is genuinely interested and has genuine need but is so consumed by competing priorities \u2014 other investments, other projects, other demands on their attention \u2014 that your offer gets crowded out before it can take root.<\/p>\n
The good soil is the person who is genuinely ready. They have the problem. They have the resources. They have the capacity to engage. They’re at the right stage in their journey. When your message reaches them, it produces return.<\/p>\n
Here’s what the parable means for your marketing strategy.<\/p>\n
You cannot control the soil. You can only control the seed and the sowing pattern.<\/p>\n
Your job is to scatter broadly enough that you reach people who are good soil, consistently enough that you’re still present when someone who was rocky or thorny becomes ready, and clearly enough that the message can penetrate when the conditions are right.<\/p>\n
Most people give up on marketing before they’ve sowed enough seed in enough soil long enough for the hundredfold return to show up.<\/p>\n
Keep sowing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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