We tell ourselves stories to make sense of the world… and that’s the secret sauce of modern marketing. It’s not about features; it’s about framing a narrative that your audience already wants to believe. The best marketers are just masterful editors of those internal stories.
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Table of Contents
Meaning
At its core, this quote means that humans use narratives as a fundamental tool for understanding reality, and marketing is simply the act of aligning a product or service with those pre-existing, internal stories.
Explanation
Look, we don’t buy things for what they are. We buy things for what they mean to us. Our brains are constantly taking in chaotic data and stitching it together into a coherent story. “I’m the kind of person who…” or “This product will help me become…” That’s the story. The marketer’s job isn’t to invent a story out of thin air—that feels fake, inauthentic. No, the real magic happens when you identify the story your customer is already telling themselves and then you help them tell it better. You shape it. You provide the proof points, the aesthetics, the experience that makes their story feel more true, more real. It’s a collaboration, not a creation. And when you get it right, it doesn’t feel like marketing at all. It feels like a discovery.
Quote Summary
Reading Level62
Aesthetic Score87
Origin & Factcheck
This insight comes straight from Seth Godin’s 2005 book, All Marketers Are Liars, which he later retitled All Marketers Tell Stories to clarify his point. It’s a concept born from the early 2000s marketing landscape in the US, right as consumer trust in traditional advertising was plummeting. And just to be clear, this is pure Godin—sometimes you see similar sentiments floating around, but this phrasing and this specific, powerful angle is his.
Attribution Summary
Author Bio
Seth Godin writes and teaches about marketing, leadership, and creative work. After earning an MBA from Stanford, he founded Yoyodyne, sold it to Yahoo!, and later launched ventures like Squidoo and the altMBA. He has authored bestsellers such as Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, Tribes, Linchpin, and This Is Marketing. He posts daily at seths.blog and speaks globally about making work that matters. If you’re starting with the Seth Godin book list, expect insights on trust, storytelling, and shipping creative projects that change culture.
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Where is this quotation located?
| Quotation | We tell ourselves stories to make sense of the world. The marketer just helps shape those stories |
| Book Details | Publication Year/Date: 2005; ISBN/Unique Identifier: 9781591841009; Last edition: Portfolio Penguin 2012; Number of pages: 240. |
| Where is it? | Chapter 19: Stories and Sense, page 182, 2012 edition |
Context
Godin was pushing back hard against the old, interruption-based model of marketing. The context of the book is this low-trust world he mentions, where consumers are savvy and have infinite choices. He argues that in this environment, the only thing that works is telling authentic stories that resonate with a worldview a specific audience already holds. The “liar” part was provocative, but his point was that we’re all lying to ourselves with the stories we choose to believe—marketers are just participating in that very human process.
Usage Examples
So how do you use this? It’s a mindset shift. For instance:
- For a founder: Stop listing your software’s 27 features. Instead, ask: “What story does my ideal customer tell themselves about their workday? Do they see themselves as an efficient hero, bogged down by clunky tools?” Your marketing should then be about how your software is the trusty sidekick in their hero’s journey.
- For a content creator: You’re not just making “how-to” videos. You’re feeding a story your viewers have about themselves—that they are lifelong learners, savvy DIY-ers, or part of an in-the-know community. Your content shapes and validates that identity.
- For a freelancer: Your clients aren’t just buying hours. They’re buying the story of “I’m a smart business owner who hires the best to solve my problems effortlessly.” Your entire client experience—from your proposal to your final deliverable—should reinforce that narrative.
Honestly, the audience for this quote is anyone who needs to communicate an idea, sell a product, or build a movement. Which is pretty much everyone.
To whom it appeals?
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FAQ
Question: Does this mean marketing is just manipulation?
Answer: It’s a fine line, but a crucial one. Manipulation is forcing a story someone doesn’t want to believe. Authentic storytelling is aligning with a story they already want to believe. The key difference is truth and intent. A bad marketer lies about a product’s capabilities. A great marketer finds the people who genuinely need what the product actually does and speaks directly to their worldview.
Question: How do I find out what story my audience is telling themselves?
Answer: You listen. You hang out where they are online and offline. You read the reviews they leave for competitors. You pay attention to their frustrations, their aspirations, the language they use. Their story is hidden in their complaints and their dreams. It’s all there if you’re paying attention.
Question: What if my product doesn’t fit a compelling story?
Answer: Then you either haven’t found the right audience yet, or you need to reframe the product. Every product or service solves a problem or fulfills a desire, and those are inherently tied to human narratives—stories of convenience, status, security, connection, achievement. The story is always there. You might just be looking at it from the wrong angle.
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