A change in mindset is the best of changes that can happen to someone. From viewing marketing as a method to better ROI, I had a chance to pivot to thinking of marketing as the process of aiding customers in finding the best products and services. The thinking of the transition entails understanding the basics of marketing and moving away from 'Spam' marketing
Product-market fit
How should a product/service be developed? What is 'product-led' and or 'customer-led' growth? All of this can be encapsulated under the title of 'product-market' fit. Product-market fit is the first step in finding out if the market dearly will need the service/product. It starts with self-storming(brainstorming by self - I just named it:) ) before building a team. Is there a niche that'll want what we are going to market and are there ways of scaling are things that need to be thought of initially. There are companies around the world that don't have a sales or marketing team but are still strong making north of $1billion in revenue. That is what experts would call 'product-led' growth. 'Customer-led' growth is making customers a part of the product/service process, taking their inputs to make things better. It works like a collaboration between buyers and sellers but just that there’s no buyer-seller sort of feeling, instead a friend-friend feel.
Advertising ain’t marketing
There’s a widespread notion that marketing is the other way of calling advertising rather than the reality of advertising being one form of marketing. It cannot be refuted that this thought has been instilled in the minds of people through TV ads which everyone thinks is the only form of marketing they’ve seen. Not many understand that marketing is all around them. The last time there was a 10% offer code for the next purchase on the watch they bought, marketing was being done at zero cost. The billboards around, the neighbourhood store owner offering them an upsell at a discounted price, the facebook ads they see are all facets of marketing.
Brand building isn’t a choice
Everyone wants to build a brand. So, there’s a lot of ‘noise’. Noticed me mentioning the word ‘noise’ because most people/brands are just spamming in the name of building their brand. Actual brand building is about providing value and developing trust. What you sow is what you reap. ‘The market reciprocates what you give it’ always needs to be remembered.
Why communication is an integral part of marketing?
From the time humans arrived on Earth, they learned to communicate and it’s through this that marketing needs to be done. Understanding the subtle art of making people realize the value of something is the deep-rooted first step in marketing. This can be done through various channels and each channel in itself is huge - calls, messages, videos, ads, conversations
Why economics is a must have knowledge for marketers?
Economics talks about money and how things revolve around it. Marketing involves spending money(although not so in a few cases) to get the desired outcome. This means that a wholesome knowledge about money is a must-have for marketers to understand the bigger process of running a business.
CATT framework
C represents Content, A represents Action, T represents Trust, and the other T represents transaction. This is a marketing funnel where content is used to pull people towards the solution we have for their problems followed by encouraging them to take the desired action followed by developing trust and finally making the transaction we desire to give customers the product/service they require. The great thing is it’s a win--win for marketers and customers.
n*CATT
So, what’s this new ‘n’? What content am I going to write or what’s the one thing where people are going to trust you? The answer is ‘niches’.
‘The money is in the niches’ say experts.
Yes, there are Ecom entrepreneurs who make millions only by selling to the ‘dogs’ niche. So is the ‘travellers’ niche. Establishing oneself as an authority in a ‘niche’ develops a great sense of trust in the minds of followers of the niche. That’s how influencers grew on Instagram and we now know how big a market that is today
There’s more than one factor contributing to finding a suitable niche. First comes passion. If you aren’t interested in something, you wouldn’t be able to give your best even if you were paid a million dollars to do it. Is it all about selecting a nice? Not at all. A niche that has a good market can only help you survive in the long run. So next comes 'market' Certain people have got a knack for certain things. And that is the third factor in selecting a niche - talent
A multi-channel digital marketing network
There’s no use having a leaky bucket in business. So, a multi-channel marketing effort needs to be in place. It starts with content and is taken over by email, social media and paid advertising. Indeed, the loop is also back fed wherein email, social media, paid ads and SEO contribute to the traffic for our content which inturn provides value for the prospects to help them make the purchase
Personal branding
We did talk about branding a little earlier. And here's a new dimension to it - building a personal brand. Why? Beacuse humans connect well with other humans rather than companies/prganizations. People are looking to know the face behind the name. So, it's easier to build a personal brand than one for the company. Personal branding can then branch out into building a brand for the company.
Here we are at the end of the article and if you've made it so far, here's one more thing you will need to know in summarization of everything you have read
Marketing has been on Earth ever since humans originated. It's just the terms that have been different in expressing this form of communication. Marketing is not just 'selling' as most think it to be. It is rather an art perpetutated by science.
Do you have a different perspective of marketing? Let me know in the comments section!
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