What's a simple skill for the magician, is MAGIC for the audience!
Common Sense is not so common.
Simple truths and skills become secrets for the uninitiated.
These secrets are no secrets for a few of us, but for the uninitiated ones like me, these were nothing short of secrets and how I wished I knew earlier.
In this article, I would like to shed some often missed points, which over the years have become obscured to common knowledge. Hence I call them secrets.
I am confident, this will shed some light on how to make sense of the changing face of marketing across the traditional, personal, digital and Integrated approaches in the post COVID world.
Am sure these would help startups, entrepreneurs and digital coaches involved in growing their business understand the terrain of marketing better and scale faster.
Enough of the intro, let's dive in.
What's Marketing and how is it changing in the current digital avatar?
Are there any laws, that we should know and if they exist, which are the most important ones.
Let’s unravel the secrets!
How to build a product or service that makes sense and brings scale to the enterprise?
If the purpose of business is to create and retain a customer, then, simple, never let the marketing/selling become better than the product - It will never sustain.
Build a product that does not require selling. How to do it?
Know and understand the customer so well, that our product/service becomes an answer to the unspoken prayers of the customer.
Fundamental Laws of Marketing
Marketing is a science. Period.
It appears as an artist's creativity, only because one does not understand the recipe well.
What's magic for one, is just a skill for another!
The world's biggest and successful companies are all MARKETING companies if you look closely.
Don't believe me, think Nike, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon
The Best Known always beats the Best
3. Different strokes for different people
However, in lot of areas the traditional ways of marketing and the channels still outperform the digital ones, and in some cases the only way to market. Never forget it.
4. How to build a strong brand!
What’s a Brand - In simple English its just another name for Trust!
So, how do we build the trust, just deliver on your promises! (Promises made by marketing/sales!)
Try for always.
If you fail, be transparent and accept the shortcomings and promise, yeah, promise to do better next time and stick to it!
Rinse & Repeat!
5. Do not try to be Number 1, Be the ONLY ONE!
Go and become the leader!
How?
Trying to become a leader in a Red Ocean is going to be a bloody war to reach the top.
No one remembers the number two, so become number one.
But How?!?
Choose a category, a niche that is untapped.
Think Ikigai!
In a blue ocean of calm by default, you are the Only One! You automatically become the Leader!
Deciding where to compete is half the success!
Become a Verb, even if we start as a noun!
Even in a very competitive market, bring a unique angle to your service and enter the blue ocean!
6. Do not leave the marketing to the marketing department!
Every business is just a shadow (although a long one) - an extension of the founder.
Marketing is an investment, rests are all costs!
The product we build and refine reflects the needs of the customer, and to build one such product or service, the founder needs to keep his nose on the ground and get to know the customer and their pain points.
It cannot be outsourced to anyone!
That’s how one makes the product/service a balm! Else we keep building features, that no one uses / needs.
The graveyard is full of companies and products, that did not understand this principle.
7. Your business is YOUR business!
Personal Branding!
People buy from People - Companies are just vehicles that deliver the goods & services.
People want to hear from people, they will trust people, not life-less entities, which they cannot relate to or identify with.
Hence personal branding is paramount to your business. Remember Secret #6.
The way to learn effectively is the golden triangle - Learn, Do & Teach.
Similarly, the way to build personal branding is to go and grow through the whole cycle, this will create Mass Trust and is the evolution of a personal brand.
8. The Attention Dimension - CATT Framework
Out of sight, is out of mind.
The first goal, then, is to create content that would grab and engage our prospective buyer's attention.
Marketing is a contest for people’s attention - Seth Godin!
We always fear the unknown.
So marketing needs to not just familiarise people with the services but also enable trust.
Trust enables Transactions!
Now the cycle becomes complete.
9. United we stand, divided we fail!
The Integrated approach to marketing the key to winning the game of marketing!
Like a human body, which does not work in isolated parts, but as a cohesive whole.
Unfortunately, a lot of newbie marketing professionals focus on different channels and not consider a holistic and integrated approach to marketing.
The secret lies not just in having the ingredients but bringing them together in a recipe to create a mouth-watering dish to be served to the customer!
How can anyone refuse such a dish - This is how selling becomes superfluous if marketing is done properly.
Well, all things come to an end, hopefully, the time you spent was well in reading through these insights.
If you like or resonate with any of them, do feel free to share these secrets with others so that they will not remain secrets anymore!
This is how we can make the world a better place, by helping companies and individuals create better products & services!
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