How to Work with People Who Are Unfamiliar with Marketing

Every marketer, advertiser, and content manager has faced this challenge: How do you effectively collaborate with clients who don’t speak marketing language?

The answer isn’t simple because it depends entirely on your client and requires strong communication and listening skills to determine whether they want: the short version, the detailed explanation, or just the most effective path forward.

The Current Challenge

Marketing feels more accessible than ever, especially with AI tools making campaigns seem quick and effortless to business owners and large companies. This creates new misconceptions and unrealistic expectations about what marketing involves.

When clients think marketing is “easy,” they often struggle to understand why certain processes take time or why strategic thinking matters more than flashy execution.

Where Responsibility Lies

While clients need to communicate their pain points and brand message clearly, marketers bear the ultimate responsibility for bridging the communication gap. We must translate client needs into digestible strategies and educate without overwhelming.

However, not every scenario allows for a full marketing education session. Sometimes you need to build trust by demonstrating knowledge through results rather than lengthy explanations.

The “Eye-Catching” Problem

Picture this scenario: You’re midway through developing a strategy when your client says, “I just want something eye-catching.”

If you’re having these vague conversations at this stage, it’s not entirely the client’s fault. The foundation for clear communication should have been established from day one.

A Human-Centered Approach

At HuLike, we believe in treating clients as humans first. This means acknowledging that people digest and communicate information differently.

Instead of expecting clients to learn marketing jargon, teach them how to express their ideas in ways that make sense to your team.

Practical Communication Examples

Rather than letting clients say, “Can you make an eye-catching headline?”

Guide them to say: “Can you use our buyer’s pain points or key benefits to grab their attention?”

Setting Clear Expectations

Help clients provide specific information instead of general concepts. This eliminates guesswork and saves time for everyone involved. Some strategies include:

• Providing templates for feedback
• Asking targeted questions during briefings
• Sharing examples of helpful vs. unhelpful input
• Creating a simple guide for how they can best communicate their needs

When Education Isn’t Enough

We can’t expect clients to take a full course in marketing communication, but we can expect basic cooperation in improving dialogue.

If a client consistently communicates in riddles, deflects responsibility, or rejects attempts to improve communication, you face a choice: work with them as-is or decline the partnership. Once you’re committed, backing out becomes much more difficult.

Working with Challenging Clients

When you have no choice but to work with a difficult communicator, focus on presenting your ideas as simply and professionally as possible. Document everything, confirm understanding in writing, and build in extra time for clarification rounds.

Conclusion

Working with marketing-unfamiliar clients is challenging, but failing to establish clear communication standards from the start is worse. Most clients will invest 15 minutes monthly in improving how they communicate their needs, they just need guidance on how to do it effectively.

As marketers, educating our clients isn’t just good customer service; it’s essential for delivering quality work. When we help clients understand why strategic thinking and originality matter more than quick AI-generated solutions, we create better outcomes for everyone involved.

The key is starting this education process on day one, not waiting until miscommunication has already derailed your project.