How good are you at imagination!?
Let me give you something to imagine.
Case:1
Hey, have you ever experienced that you are a bit drowsy in the afternoon and your door knocks…bam! Here is the salesman advertising their product, no matter how their customers feel, they just start saying their speech continuously, out of which you hear nothing, but the only thing that is going in your mind is that he/she is trying to manipulate your mind and to convince you to buy the product?
Well, they are salesman who has every answer to your “buts”, like:
Say for example he/she is selling: A dictionary
(customer’s argument — — salesperson explanation)
“Well, the product is good, but it’s too costly” — — He/she starts negotiating.
“Your product is good, but I already have a dictionary” — — He will start explaining to you about the latest edition and new things added to the dictionary.
“I don’t want a dictionary” — — they will start explaining to you about the features of the dictionary and how handy it is and you can carry it anywhere.
Blah blah blah…
The problem here is not their product, neither is their speech or their convincing speech, the problem is about Timing and the Need of the customer.
He/she should be able to understand the customer’s state of mind.
Case 2:
Imagine you have surveyed a lot about the area you live in and you know about the things that people want, but they have to travel a lot to get that product and they don’t trust the online services, as they have the fear that the product may get damaged.
You start planning for that particular thing, as there is no competitor in this, and it may benefit you in the future, to gain revenue from it.
You start making the product with your team, and after a few months, you have prepared the product, just how the customers want it and you are ready to sell your product.
You have done a lot of marketing of that product in your area, but no one is initiating to buy your product.
Why?
They have TRUST issues.
( trust is the most lacking thing in the market).
People don’t give a shit about your product unless it has some good reviews and nice customer service.
Going far away to purchase that same thing will be more affordable to them than buying products from some unknown marketer.
Case 3:
You must have seen many videos or reels on Instagram or youtube of a football player: Ronaldo replacing the bottles of Coca-Cola.
A Funny thing happened: When I searched “Ronaldo” on youtube, the first suggestion was: “Ronaldo Coca-Cola”.
In one of the press conferences, he kept the coca-cola bottles aside and replaced them with water bottles.
He did nothing wrong in it.
It’s just that he is a football player, and health is one of his major concerns, and keeping carbonated drinks in front of him would only cause this kind of result.
It’s just that, even if your brand value is massive, if you don’t advertise your product to the “Right Customer”, your product won’t work.
Because it is all about Targeting the right customers!
(The irony is that he replaced the coca-cola bottles with the water bottles, but everywhere right now, his name is joined with the thing he doesn’t like.)
Above are some cases which prove that there has to be a tight synchronization between:
- Right Product
- Right Customer
- Right Time
- Trust amongst the customers
Selling is not the only motto here, keeping the customer happy by constantly being in touch with them through communication, engaging them for the products they need, providing them reviews of your other customers, something innovative in the product makes the customer believe in your product.
When does marketing actually start?
Right before the product is made.
Yes, you heard that right.
There are many parameters to keep in mind if you want to have your own product and to make it a success.
Some of the parameters are:
- What is the need of your customer?
- How much can your customer afford to pay for the product?
- How can you build trust amongst your customers?
- Who are your competitors?
- How can you innovate your product?
- Where are you marketing your product? (Demographics)
- To whom are you marketing your product?
- What is the mentality of the people around?
The above self-questionnaires can help you to make an A1 product.
The above points depict that you have to become a split personality.
- Primary identity: As a marketer.
- Secondary identity: As a customer.
While building a product, keeping the buyer’s persona in mind is of utmost importance.
A good product is something that speaks to your customers directly through its content, features, reviews, and the brand value it has.
If it is a good product, then it will sell itself!
And hence, marketing is all about human psychology and not just about the creative part.
Any(Digital or Traditional) marketing involves the engagement and synchronization of both parts of the brain.
I.e:
- Right Part: Creativity
- Left Part: Analytical
Without any of these, it is quite difficult to balance out the final results.
Is Traditional Medium Still Preferable?
(Old is Gold, but cannot be platinum)
Though Digital Marketing is booming right now and it has overcome many disadvantages of Traditional marketing, in some aspects, the Digital medium cannot compete with the Traditional medium.
We will see how:
If a product is generic(FMCG, Electronics, gadgets, etc) and if it is targeting a large audience, then there is nothing better than Television Ads, Radio Ads, or Newspaper ads.
According to the statistics, in India:
- 197 million out of 298 million population has access to TV/Radio.
- Calculating 4 members/family: 800million — 1billion people can watch those ads.
- 65% of the Indian population has access to radio services.
- Approximately, 465M of our population has access to newspapers.
This shows that, by showing the ads of your product through these mediums, it can reach a large portion of the audience and people who don’t have access to internet services can also see your ads.
Probably, it will take a considerable amount of time, if the marketing is done through Digital Medium.
Some Disadvantages:
- Each Advertising is paid.
- You cannot do a perfect analysis.
- You cannot personalize your communication.
- Cannot do deep marketing, natural sales, etc…
(All of the above disadvantages are overcome by digital marketing).
“Digital” Marketing
- It’s all about social media posts, Facebook ads, Instagram ads, creative work, and so on…
The above-mentioned things are likely that any person from a non-marketing field can think of, which is a myth.
As we discussed above, it is a combination of both Creativity and Analytics.
Digital Marketing is all about “Marketing” and “Digital” is only the medium/source of business/communities/marketers to showcase their products to the world.
These platforms make the job a lot easier to market their products to their desired customer and engage with them.
- As it is online and free, anyone can do digital marketing, it’s not only for businesses or big organizations.
E.g: If you have a shop of stationery — you can attract customers from remote places through marketing your product digitally.
The main purpose of marketing is to build your product and to eventually build a brand that speaks to the customers itself and sells itself.
Your product should speak to the customers.
In a way, if your product becomes a brand, your customers only will market your product through their reviews.
And that is whole another level of success.
The aim of marketing is not always to generate revenue but to respect the customer’s choices and to serve them.
Product’s Value > Marketing Value
Communication Matters!
I know that you have already read a lot about communication skills, especially in the lockdown period, you must have seen a lot of youtube ads and Instagram ads to improve your communication.
Why is it so?
Well, a survey was conducted in which, one question was asked:
- Which is the thing that you fear the most?
What comes to your mind? Death?
The results were shocking!
Death was ranked 2nd.
What was the first fear?
Public Speaking!
Okay, I won’t give you cliche advice about communication skills and the things that you have already heard many times…
The only thing that comes to my mind when I hear the term “Communication” is: How good a storyteller are you?
Marketing is all about creating stories and selling your product by engaging the audience.
You must have noticed some ads:
- Vodafone ZooZoo ads.
- 5 star: “Do Nothing” ad
- Suresh and Ramesh’s ads
- Mentos: Dimag ki batti jala de
- Surf excel: pour rub pour
- Flipkart ads: children playing the role of elders (they are great actors!)
Etc…
Why do you know all these ads?
The story they have reaches the maximum audience and their funny or innovative way to show their product to the audience engages them.
That’s the power of telling a story!
Marketing is not manipulation unless the product is poor. It’s about good communication that convinces people to purchase their desired product.
Just ask one question to yourself:
“Are you able to transfer your thoughts to your audience?”
If you are reading this article till now, then I should consider that I am a good storyteller…haha kidding.
Integrated Marketing
Branches of Digital Marketing:
- Content Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Social Media Marketing
- Paid Ads
- Blogging and Web analytics
- Inbound and Content Marketing
- Mobile Marketing
A lot of people consider these branches to be separate and they feel that they should be treated individually.
Well, that is not the case.
Say, a lot of people do content marketing and expect sales, but the results are not that good.
Then they try email marketing, again try to generate sales through it, if that doesn’t work then they will take some other branch of digital marketing and try to get sales through it.
Problem: you are not able to select your niche.
“If you try to be everything to everyone, then you will be nobody to anyone.” (same in the case of niche selection)
You have to work in such a way that your every campaign, ad, landing page, social media post, etc. compliments each other.
Through Integrated Marketing, you can communicate well to your customers, leaving absolutely no room for doubt.
The chances of getting noticed increases.
For any integrated marketing, a marketing plan is a must.
It increases the revenue together rather than focusing on the individual branches of it.
Shown in the above figure, there are some fields of digital marketing, and some arrows, showing some flow, ending at selling and convert, having the message that:
Content Marketing: Content is the center of Marketing.
Email Marketing: One of the best communication channels for marketer to convert their leads to customers. (Trust)
SEO: It helps potential customers or leads find your content.
Social Media: A great way to target young audiences.
Paid Advertising: It boosts the entire momentum of email marketing, SEO, social media, content marketing, and building trust amongst customers. (Attention)
Sell and Convert: The final step, where a transaction happens.
4 Pillars of Marketing
[n] = Niche: it defines your expertise in a particular area.
[C]=Content: Center of marketing.
[A]=Attention: To target the intended audience.
[T]=Trust: To build bonding with your customer.
[T]=Transaction: Final Step
One of the best ways to convert the lead to the customer is through CATT Framework.
Content > Attention > Trust > Transaction
Content:
It is the center of all marketing campaigns.
This is the part where you need your creative mind, observation skills, and understanding of what people want and what their problems are.
Content can be a video, blog post, reels, case studies, social media posts, etc.
Attention:
Once we have created the lead magnets(offers, content, schemes to attract the customer), we need the audience to see and react.
There are 2 ways to do it:
- Paid
- Organic.
Once they like your content, then he/she may give their names, and email ids in the call to action section and become your leads.
Trust:
The most valuable thing in the market.
Once the customer gives their details, they are expecting something valuable and cheap.
Trust can be built using the email sequence and continue to be in contact with them.
Transaction:
The final stage is the one where we provide the customers with the offer, the selling part.
You should be aware of your customers’ state of mind, whether they are ready to purchase the product or not.
If you ask your customers directly for purchasing your product, then it will be like you proposing a girl/boy at the first meeting
And that is something that is not appreciable and weird.
Personal Branding
If you ask a kid about Nike, Puma, or Adidas shoes, he/she must know it, because it is a Brand.
The Brand says it all, in fact, the customers say it all and their customers become their indirect way to market their products ahead, telling about their positive reviews.
Well, it all depends on trust, which makes a brand valuable.
That’s why companies hire big celebrities and sportspeople to advertise their product because they have a huge fan base and people trust them.
The competition at the top is less.
Be the only one at the top.
If you cannot be the only one at the top, then try to be the only one in the subcategory.
Let me explain it to you with an example.
If I ask you who is the 1st Prime Minister of India?
You will know it.
If I ask you who is the first female Prime Minister Of India?
You will know this as well.
But, if I ask you who is the 3rd Prime Minister of India?
You may have to think a little.
In fact, the 1st Female Prime Minister and 3rd Prime Minister of India are the same.
But you need to think about the last case because it is not at the top of the list.
Whereas, you will immediately answer the 2nd question because Indira Gandhi is at the top of the Female Category list.
Hence, it is very important to build a small brand, which will decrease the hard work to generate leads and convert them into your customers. Because your product is right now a brand only because of their indirect marketing and their trust.
Introducing you all to the MassTrust Concept:
The above blueprint states that building a brand and its evolution is a continuous process.
#MassTrust
Your Takeaways from this Article
The basics about Marketing.
It’s traditional and digital mediums.
How important communication is in marketing!
The importance of Integrated Marketing.
The 4 pillars of Digital Marketing.
How building a Personal Brand value is of utmost value.
Thank you for the time you invested in reading this article. It keeps me humble and focused to share some valuable information with you.
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