“Marketing Tactics Successful Marketers Live By” — A Peep Into Marketer’s Mind
This article seeks to provide clarity about “what Marketing is, how it works and how you can use it from a practical point of view”.
It’s imperative that you understand the laws of marketing before you start to market your product — or before you even start creating your product.
Many people however misunderstand the Laws Of Marketing. I am sure some of you must be thinking if the laws of marketing actually exist. Yes, it does exist and to be accurate enough, all the big names in the marketing field follow these Marketing Laws and why not, these laws actually are the byproduct of their mistakes, failures, experience and success.
If you also want to make a mark, make sure you are in tune with these laws that i am going to discuss right here in this article. Hopefully, the list helps you get to where you want in life.
Here we go..
What is Marketing according to you?
It’s probably difficult for you to define marketing even though you see and use it everyday. No worries, I am not even asking about the definition of marketing but the Fundamentals of Marketing — What marketing is all about.
Let’s discuss the 4 laws of marketing.
Law 1: Marketing is a science, not an art
This art/science debate began in 1945 when a scientist first explored marketing as scientific business practice, stepping away from a popular belief at that time that it is an art.
If you think that marketing is all about creative logos, creative banners or creative marketing slogans. I am sorry to burst your bubble, it’s not what you think it is.
The very nature of marketing involves a form of science. Marketing’s very purpose is to influence the behavior of other people to bring those people closer to their brand, organisation, product or service.
Undoubtedly, No marketing campaign comes without a dose of creativity but that’s secondary. As you go on reading this article you will know yourself why it is science and not creativity.
Law 2: Marketing comes first and then comes the product.
Good marketing starts before a product is produced or a service delivered. Start with marketing before anything else to understand if there is an actual need for the product or service and if yes, then how much. Try to be as objective as possible.
Ask the following questions:
QUESTION 1 : Is there a market for the product or service? Is there a need?
QUESTION 2 : How many competitors provide the same product or service?
QUESTION 3 : What is your competitive advantage?
QUESTION 4 : Can a demand for the product or service be created?
QUESTION 5 : Can the product compete in quality and price?
Unarguably, marketing comes first and remains there in each stage of a business. But once a product is made, the product holds an utmost position. Never let marketing become more important than the product. If your product is really good, it should sell itself.
Law 3: Marketing is about reaching the right person, with the right message, at the right time
It is important to first know about your customer’s intent i.e., what they actually want and then collect all the valuable information required to fulfill that intent.
For e.g.:
Marketer : What do you want?
Customer : I want to watch a movie (Right Person)
Marketer : Okay, which type of movie?
Customer : Any comedy movie (Right Message)
Marketer : Okay, when do you want to watch it?
Customer : Tonight (Right Time)
The combination of right person, right message and right time is a gold mine for the marketers, providing more opportunities to be relevant and connect with customers in a meaningful way.
Law 4: Marketing is building a brand in the mind of the consumers.
The words “brand” and “business” are often used interchangeably. Google might also suggest that these are similar words but no that’s not true.
Anyone can create a business but building a brand is a holy grail. A brand is much more than just a logo or slogan. It’s how people feel when they see your logo and your brand name.
Why are people willing to pay such high prices for a simple cup of coffee?
Yes, you got it right. I am talking about Starbucks here.
Starbucks isn’t only selling coffee, they are selling a feeling — they are selling a brand.
They are different from others.
“The only one”
But how to build a brand?
Here you learn..
- Be the first one and the only one.
It is better to be first than it is to be better. It is much easier to get into the mind first than to try to convince others that you are better than the one who got there first.
“TOMS, a shoe company has given nearly 100 million pairs of shoes to people in need. For every $3 they make, they give $1 away. This socially conscious image has helped the company in so many ways. People are willing to pay a higher price for even the simplest shoes. There are other brands trying to do the same but TOMS did it first and have done it better.”
2. Become a category leader by creating a category
Create a category that you can be first in and establish a leadership position in it. Don’t be just another me-too player in a highly crowded market.
“The one who defines the category wins the category — David Sacks”
3. Win with subcategory if you can’t win with a category
Position yourself as a subcategory or choose a narrow niche if you find your market highly competitive. If you can’t be the first to dominate the category, be the one to dominate the subcategory.
“The only path to real growth is to engage in transformational or substantial innovation that creates “must haves” that define new subcategories.” - David Aaker ”
Final Thoughts :
It is important to put effort into building a brand, without that, people won’t be able to pick you out of the crowd and survival will be a struggle.
Now that you have hopefully understood the laws of marketing. It is worthwhile to discuss 4 important concepts of marketing that I am sure you can’t afford to miss.
Concept 1 : Traditional Marketing vs Digital Marketing
The main difference between traditional marketing and digital marketing is the medium through which an audience receives a marketing message.
Traditional Marketing uses traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, TV etc. While digital marketing uses digital media such as websites, social media etc.
Traditional marketing doesn’t mean it’s old fashioned. It still plays an important role in people’s lives with ever growing need to step out of the digital world. It has a wider reach as statistics suggests that TV has a reach of 800 million to a billion people in India.
On the other hand, Digital media has a reach of around 100 million people in India which is nowhere close to the reach of TV itself.
But these comparisons can’t make one type of marketing bigger than the other.
If a product is generic and requires a wide audience, then traditional marketing is a great fit as it can reach millions. In the same token, Digital marketing is used to reach a more targeted set of audience.
Ultimately, both types of marketing have their benefits and downfalls, but the key is to understand your target audience considering your budget.
Concept 2 : The CATT Marketing Funnel
Understanding the concept of CATT Marketing Funnel is important because it’s a useful model for visualizing the customer journey from initial awareness all the way through conversion.
Wealth = n^CATT
NICHE(n) — Niche is a combination of Talent, Market and Passion. If there is a Market for your niche and you have the right talent but you feel lost as you are not passionate about it or vice versa, stop right there and find another niche that compliments all three Talent, Market and Passion.
CONTENT(C) — When you create content, make sure you are providing useful information to your audience, attracting potential customers and retaining existing customers through quality content.
ATTENTION(A) — If your content is of great value, it will automatically drive traffic(organic traffic) but how much traffic is so much traffic? We need more right? and how to get it?
By using best SEO practices, Social Media, Paid ads and referrals.
TRUST(T) — Customers don’t buy from people they like, they buy from those they trust. You have chosen a great niche, your content is amazing and getting huge traffic.. Hold on.. They don’t trust you? Nahh.. they are not going to pay you a cent.
Build trust with your audience through tripwires (offering a low cost product with intention of selling them an expensive product later), by informative emails and retargeting.
TRANSACTION(T) — If the above methods are followed properly, the transaction will automatically take place without putting extra effort.
Concept 3 : The Integrated Marketing Funnel
Creating a funnel that ticks all the boxes is an important part of marketing. But integrating all the processes in your funnel is most important.
Integrating digital marketing means channelizing your content through different ways of marketing.
Refer to the picture below:
Poor integration will naturally create a funnel friction and slow down all your processes and hence your overall results will be impacted.
Concept 4 : Personal Branding: Mass Trust Blueprint
Go from Zero to Hero
Your personal brand is what differentiates you from others.
Personal branding is the practice of creating a brand around a person rather than a business entity. It helps give a person more credibility. It helps in building trust.
The incredible personal branding example is — “Neil Patel“
Neil Patel is a marketing guru whose face is there all over the internet. He teaches how to market online. He owns various companies and the best part is that he is the front man of all his companies.
Not many people know about most of his companies but all digital marketing enthusiasts definitely know about Neil Patel.
He can give rise to many brands from his influence.
There are so many digital marketers who refer themselves as digital guru. But the best known will always beat the best.
This is the power of personal branding.
#BrandYou!
Let’s talk about The Evolution of Personal Brand using Masstrust Blueprint.
Here’s a simple 7 step formula:
STEP 1: Start with learning a new skill
STEP 2: Do the work around that as an employee or freelancer
STEP 3: Write a blog about your experiences
STEP 4: Start consulting others based on your experience and understanding
STEP 5: Mentor other people who are on same path as you were
STEP 6: Build your own Startup company
STEP 7: Repeat the process
The evolution of a personal brand is an ongoing process. It never ends.
That’s a wrap
There’s a lot of information to process in this post. But, now that you’ve covered most of what you’ll need to know as a marketing practitioner, you’re now better prepared than ever to continue your marketing education and level up your career.
You must be comfortable with the trial-and-error approach, but the more you learn and study the greats, the quicker you’ll see success.
Thank you for reading the entire article.
Is there anything I missed?
Let me know in the comments.
This article is a part of the second assignment of DigitalDeepak Internship program by Mr. Deepak Kanakaraju.
