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Marketing for Introverts: The Introvert-Friendly Marketing Plan Process

by Marcia Yudkin

So you’re in business, and you’ve realized you’re constitutionally one of The Quiet Ones – someone who would rather garden, read or run alone than attend a party. You have two options: Try to fit in with the dominant social-butterflies-rule culture, or unapologetically be yourself.

Contrary to what you might have been taught, the second course of action does not mean committing business suicide. It’s actually highly possible to reach business success by being true to yourself if you are willing to make some unconventional choices.

One way to get started is to use the year-end planning process to create a marketing plan that tosses out the “musts” you’ve inherited from extroverts and that fits your own likes and dislikes.

What would an introvert-friendly marketing plan look like?

The plan itself would clearly differ according to your profession, goals and resources. Nevertheless, here is how the process of planning might go once you decided to build your business around your personality rather than attempting to become the personality others say you should be.

1. You’ll look back at the recent past and think about what you’ve enjoyed doing and what you hated doing, what never got done, what worked even better than hoped for and where you had difficulties meeting clients’ expectations. For instance, you got great results from inviting current and past clients to lunch and from postcards you mailed, but disliked volunteering at animal shelter fundraisers and dealing with Client X’s incessant phone calls.

2. Before forming goals for the year ahead, you’ll think about your personal preferences and wishes as well as more traditional measures like market share, revenue, profits or number of employees. For example, several years ago I resolved to develop information products (and did it) so I could make money while I was on a months-long road trip to Alaska. Perhaps you wish you had more time for your family or hobbies, or that you’d be working for more appreciative clients.

3. In thinking about how to reach your marketing goals, you’ll set aside "musts" you may have taken as givens in the past. You’ll weigh the psychological costs and rewards of any tactic along with its economic and business potential. For anything that feels violently unsuited to you personally, you’ll consider options like outsourcing, delegating or simply letting it go.

4. After you put together a tentative marketing plan, you’ll ponder whether it or a part of it feels overwhelming. If so, you’ll make adjustments so it feels manageable.

Your reward: A marketing plan that probably wouldn’t suit anyone else but has exciting potential for bringing you the business you most want to have and for ensuring that you feel fulfilled in the coming year.


A bookworm as a child, Marcia Yudkin grew up to discover she had a surprising talent for creative marketing. She’s the author of more than a dozen books, including 6 Steps to Free Publicity, now in its third edition, and Meatier Marketing Copy. She mentors introverts so they discover their uniquely powerful branding and most comfortable marketing strategies, and helps them create a promotional presence that attracts the kind of clients who make them happiest.

To learn more about the strengths and preferences of introverts, download her free Marketing for Introverts audio manifesto: Marketing for Introverts: FREE Audio Manifesto from Marcia Yudkin

Author, Meatier Marketing Copy, available in paperback, Kindle, Nook, Audible audiobook
“There are few genuine thought leaders in the field of copywriting. Marcia Yudkin is one of them. The strategies she presents in Meatier Marketing Copy are all easy to understand and implement, yet profoundly insightful. If you want to write marketing copy that sizzles and sells, this book is a must-read.” - Steve Slaunwhite, Author, Start & Run a Copywriting Business, Co-Author, The Wealthy Freelancer