10 Lessons Marketers Can Learn From Bass Fishing

Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about fishing. I recently realized just how much marketing and fishing actually have in common…

One of my favorite ways to unwind is to hop in my boat and head out from my lake house into the lake to enjoy a few hours of bass fishing.

For me, it’s helpful to get away from business and technology to enjoy some quiet time and the beauty of nature. I have been fishing since I was old enough to hold a rod and reel, when my grandfather used to take me saltwater fishing from bridges in Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida.

Growing up, we lived on Greens Bayou in east Houston. I had an aluminum boat with an old beat up 9 horsepower Mercury engine. I would hop in my boat as a youngster and head upstream a few miles then park my boat and cross over the bank from the bayou to a small pond out in the woods – miles from civilization back then.

I would carry my tackle box and a couple of rods and reels to my little private piece of heaven and escape the rest of the world – to go fishing. Over the past forty-plus years of fishing, I’ve had a lot of experiences. In my twenties and thirties, I even enjoyed competitive tournament bass fishing clubs and money tournaments around Texas. Fishing teaches us a lot about life, values and finding solutions to complex patterns and problems.

Fishing requires patience – a lot of patience. So does marketing. If we constantly change advertisements, positioning, messaging and get impatient for results, we’re very likely to fail. Marketing and advertising programs require many exposures to have their full effect, yet as marketers we often lack the patience to stick with it long enough to succeed.

Fishing requires belief. Marketing requires belief – in your understanding of your buyers, your products and your marketing strategy and plan.

Fishing requires the confidence – to choose the right place to fish, the right bait to use, the correct presentation of that bait and to stick with it long enough to achieve results. Marketing requires the confidence to choose our positioning, messaging and then invest in advertising and marketing programs and give these programs the time they require to succeed.

When you’ve been fishing as long as I have, you understand that some days you’re going to come home with great stories about how many fish you caught, a huge stringer and bragging rights for your accomplishment. You also fully understand the realities of coming back from your fishing trip empty-handed (called getting “skunked”), with nothing to show for it except a sunburn and sore muscles. And on a really bad day, perhaps a hole in your boat.

This is the reality of fishing. It’s also a reality of marketing.

With fishing, it’s not as much about the results of the catch as it is about getting away and doing something you enjoy. At least that’s how it is with “recreational” catch and release fishing… Professional fishing is quite another matter.

Professional fisherman realize that their livelihood depends on their success every day – just like professional marketers do. If you don’t catch, you don’t eat. Failure is not an option.

Whether an amateur or a professional, fishing and marketing also have a lot in common with hunting. We are in search for our “prey” and we have to compete in the “wild” in order to succeed. Here’s ten things that marketers can learn from fishermen:

1. Understanding - understanding our prey is central to success. Knowing as much as possible about the fish, how they think, their behavior, their decision-making and habits is core to success. Without this understanding, a fishing trip requires more luck than skill. With this understanding, skills becomes more important than luck. Do you truly understand your buyers and their habits like a professional fisherman does?

2. Location - it seems obvious enough, but unless you go where the fish are, you can’t possibly catch them. And since you cannot see underneath the water, you have to look for other signs of where the fish are located; certain types of “structure” that attracts them like humps, dropoffs and creek channels. With marketing, we need to identify the “places” that our buyers like to hang out, too. Are you fishing in the right locations where your buyers hang out? Do you know where these buyers like to feed? Where they like to go to rest?

3. Bait - in fishing, our goal is to “hook” the fish; however, first we must attract the fish using the right bait. There’s “live bait” and “artificial baits” called lures. The purpose of bait is to attract the fish and get them to “bite”. Live bait is usually more effective than artificial baits. However, artificial baits are more flexible and durable, unlike live bait. When we choose the right bait for the circumstances that the fish are in (muddy water, clear water, low light, etc.), we catch more fish. How effective is the marketing bait you’re using at attracting buyers? Do you use the same bait all the time or do you choose the bait to match the circumstances of your buyers? Do you appear “live” to your audience (or at least in recorded videos) or do you rely strictly on artificial, online bait?

4. Presentation - how the bait is presented makes all the difference in fishing, in terms of speed of presentation, depth, rhythm, sound, color and other aspects of how the bait is perceived by the fish. Fishermen know to vary their presentation for the circumstances in order to catch more fish. How well does your marketing presentation match the circumstances of your buyers? Do you have a single presentation for all buyers, or do you tailor it for each “buyer persona”? Do you use text, images, video, audio, and color in combinations that entice your buyers to “bite” (or does it annoy, bore and repel them)?

5. Patterns - there are a huge number of possible combinations of location, baits and presentation characteristics. Depending on the season and the prevailing habits of fish on a given lake, certain combinations work consistently. For example, on a windy, overcast day a spinner bait with larger copper blades on a point often works best vs. on a clear, calm day, smaller silver blades that reflect the sun when fished near brush and cover work better (because the fish are hiding from the bright sun in the brush). Do you understand the patterns that work best to land the most buyers under various conditions? Do you look for and find these patterns, then leverage this knowledge to replicate your success at every lake (advertising/traffic venue) you visit?

6. Setting the hook – one of the most important moves you must make in fishing is picking the right moment to set the hook. If you fail to set the hook, the fish will get away once they realize something’s wrong and they’re being caught. Do you pick the right time and way to set the hook and close your buyers? Or are you losing many of your buyers before or after the “hookset”? Does the same close work on everyone or do you use different ones that are appropriate for the circumstances?

7. Catch and release – once the fish is hooked, the fun begins – playing the fish and reeling them in. Once they are landed, we admire our catch, weigh them and either place them in the live well or release them. Do you still enjoy catching and landing your buyers? Do you still weigh each one and appreciate the catch or have you grown so accustomed to the catch that it’s now mundane and repetitive? Do you provide great service after the catch or just throw them back to be caught by another fisherman?

8. Schools - one way to catch a lot of fish is to locate schools of fish. Fish gather into schools in the same location in order to feed. Buyers gather together in order to feed, too – to learn buyers go to events, seminars, trade shows, webinars, forums, blogs and other venues. Are you fishing where your buyers school?

9. Trophies - every once in a while, we catch a fish to be really proud of – one that’s bigger and better than the average fish, perhaps even one for the record books. Landing a trophy fish typically requires more planning and preparation. If your line is old and frayed, trophy fish will break it. If your hooks aren’t sharp, the hook won’t penetrate and hold. If you don’t play the fish right, they will wrap your line up around a log and break it. If you take too long to reel a big fish in, they’ll wear your line out with their bigger, sharper teeth and break the line. Big fish are smart. They grew big for a reason and they don’t fall for the same tricks that younger, smaller fish do. Do you prepare and plan properly for landing a trophy fish? When you land a trophy account, do you make the most of it you can?

10. Equipment - in fishing, using the right line, reel, rod and other equipment makes a big difference in how accurate your casts are and how productive you are at catching fish. Do you have the right equipment in place for your buyer? Is your marketing equipment in good working order? Does it capture a buyer’s interest, attract them to look closer, opt-in to become a lead (fish on!)? Does your sales process nurture leads and build a relationship with them? Does it close the sale or do most of them get away?

Now clearly there are many differences between fishing and marketing – and between fishermen and marketers. But there are also many similarities. It’s often helpful to look at what we do from a different perspective to see things we otherwise miss from our usual vantage point.

I hope these insights and change of perspective help you see your buyers and your marketing/selling processes in a different light. As in fishing, there are many patterns that catch a few fish and only a few that work consistently. Choosing the right approach under each circumstance is the challenge.

Boy, all this talk about fishing makes me want to hop in the boat and get going. I can’t wait for the weather to improve so the fish will be more active and productive for catching.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty of buyers just waiting for the right bait to swim by…

In addition to enjoying fishing, I also enjoy being a “fishing guide” – helping others to catch fish. If you think having a “marketing guide” could benefit your business, please take a moment to check out our “guide services”.