In this article I am going to discuss the various aspects of marketing, break the myths about marketing, the what, why, how and when of marketing with an example that can give you a clarity about it.
· What is marketing? Is it science or psychology?
· When does it start before creating the product or after creating the product?
· Is it just about identifying the need or just delivering the product?
Marketing is more than just selling. It is rooted mostly in human psychology.
Introduction
Marketing…isn’t a new word that is recently being hyped. Its origin can be rooted back to the origin of mankind. In blunt form it can be defined and remembered as “identifying and creating a supply for the need”.
Marketing doesn’t start after the product creation, it starts before the product creation. It starts with understanding the customer and their needs that leads to creating the product that fits.
Example: people used to have desktops only previously but after seeing the rise in needs with the rise in population and employments opportunities, They felt the need to have something compact and travel friendly with the same features that can serve similar purposes.
This paved the way for the creation of laptops , which made life a lot more easier than before. It has benefitted a lot of people , organizations right from the bottom level to the top level.
Marketing is a game of developing trust in the customer’s mind by sending the right message to the right person at the right time.
Example: services or products related to motivation , relationships, weight loss, shopping get easily connected to the customers and thus creates a need in their minds.
In order to gain trust one needs to have brilliant communication skills which can make the customer believe that they are in need of the product or service being marketed. Webinars, exhibitions, etc. help in creating a powerful word of mouth communication which is the best marketing that can ever be done.
Its purpose is to build a brand and capture a trustworthy position in the minds of the customer which helps in retaining the customer.
The aim of marketing is to know and understand customers so well that the product fits and sells itself — Peter Drucker
Marketing not only helps people discover the product but also creates a good perception about it. Marketing is a game of perception whereas product is the reality. Marketing is just like the kick starter to the products of the company.
Marketing and good marketing can accelerate the death of the company. So never let marketing overcome the product. Only then the efforts of marketing can be utilized for the brand and its positioning.
As most of the people assume, marketing as advertising and vice versa but they are two different things.
In order to gain the trust of people the product needs to have at least one among the following
Quality
Brand
Good marketing
Good Communication skills
But why one needs to learn marketing?
· Marketing is not one those that go extinct with the development of technology.
· It has a long shelf life as it is rooted in human psychology and understanding the market
· It gives direct returns as it is a valuable investment which doesn’t come with any other department in a business.
· It existed since the first market squares appeared in villages.
· Marketing cannot be outsourced completely to an agency, the founder himself needs to be a marketer.
· It helps in creating a strategy can be created which helps in effective and easy execution.
Marketing helps in building a good brand. A good brand can make its product sell itself, marketing is very little required in such cases.
Example: BMW, Gucci, Ck and many more …
Branding can make a lot of difference but the real confusion starts at How to build a strong brand?
Some of the key points to be noted while building a brand that can turn out to be strong
Instead of trying to be no.1 ,try to be the only one and for that to happen you need to select a niche which comprises your talent, passion and market share.
Choosing where to compete i.e choosing your category is half your success.
In a world full of competition you need to have something unique compared to others which gives a different perception to customers which can make you a leader .
Traditional marketing vs digital marketing
Out of the total population in India almost half of the population doesn’t even have a tv in their houses. But the reach when compared to tv is huge compared to other mediums.
If a product reaches audience through tv in a generic form it is called traditional marketing.
But when the growing population and their interests are kept in mind digital marketing helps in a lot more ways as the generation is slowly inclining towards the modern methods of learning and incubating it into their lives.
In order to keep pace with the growing technology and adapt to the situations and make the best out of it one needs to get updated.
Why learn digital marketing?
India has around 20–25 million online shoppers which can even increase in the near future . The rise in population is creating a downfall in employment opportunities. Hence online business and having a personal brand is the best and the most profitable way to combat unemployment, changing technologies, as they require less investment.
CATT marketing funnel and framework
Your success and wealth depends on the niche you choose which can be expressed in the following way
Wealth = n^CATT
n(niche) — your success and wealth depends on the niche you choose
C(content)- always create content that attracts people from your niche by creating blog posts, live webinars.
A(attention)-drive attention to your content using social media platforms.
T(trust)- build trust with your audience by sending personalized communication so that every person feels like you are communicating with them
T(transaction)- once the trust is built convert leads into customers using natural sales methods.
Once you have saturated your niche you can even create new niches which will create wealth in turn.
Personal branding and why?
People will trust you and your products/services only when they know you are good at something in order make them know that you are good at something you need to market yourself and nobody will do it for you and there comes personal branding into picture.
People want to hear from people and not from brands.
Personal brand cannot be invested in and cannot be sold. It can give rise to many brand from their influence.
Evolution of personal brand
Learn new skills through concepts, facts and procedures, understand the concepts, remember the facts and practice the procedures
Implement what you have learnt in the real world to remember even better.
Practice what you have learned and experienced through work .
Start consulting other businesses instead of working for them as you have a personal brand through learning and implementing.
Try mentoring others who want to become like you as it helps grow your understanding to a whole new level.
Start your own business with the experience you have gained.
Summary
I hope my article gave a brief journey through marketing and topics related in starting a new business or start up. Feel free to leave your valuable comments.
