Marketing Is Not Magic...
Most business owners think they understand "marketing" but they don't. By the end of this article, you will understand what marketing actually is.
Happy Monday Everyone!
Marketing is not magic and marketing alone won’t guarantee you success.
Oftentimes, when speaking with clients they want a specific problem solved and they believe better marketing is the solution. Their actual solution is a better sales system. Sales refers to all the activities that lead to the selling of a product or service whereas marketing is the process of getting people interested in what you’re selling. The picture below shows the difference between the two perfectly.
Source: B2B International
Through my experience with various clients, it’s clear that most business owners don’t actually know the difference and understand what marketing is. I will be running a branding and marketing workshop Saturday 1st May alongside an amazing branding strategist and social media consultant where we will be helping you put together an effective branding and marketing strategy that will get you better marketing results. You can get your tickets here. I look forward to seeing some of you there.
Marketing is storytelling, marketing is community engagement, marketing is how your brand is positioned and perceived by your customers. When looking at brands like Apple or Nike, you notice most of their marketing campaigns are not about the product, it’s more about the feeling associated with the product.
Nike pushes the message that everyone's an athlete and they will continue to inspire and bring innovation to every athlete. Nike’s message is consistent in every marketing campaign they do and their promotion materials. Apple focuses on bringing the best user experience through its innovative hardware, software, and services. Their brand mission is also consistent through all their marketing campaigns eg. the original iPod slogan “1000 Songs in Your Pocket.” Marketing is not a battle of products, it’s a battle of perception. Most running shoes or phones can perform the exact same actions but some are just branded to be better.
With marketing your business, it's important to understand that the main aim of marketing is to increase awareness of your brand, which will open you up to new leads, and with a strong sales system, you can convert them to paying customers or clients. Marketing also involves serving your customers and continuously engaging with them. Most businesses focus more on how to acquire new customers than increasing business from the existing customers. It is said that it costs 7x times more to acquire a new customer than retaining an existing customer and making them loyal.
To conclude, the main aim of marketing is to attract, convert and retain customers. You need to know your audience. To figure out who they are, you need to know who faces the problem your product or service aims to fix. Create different methods to engage with potential or existing customers. You will have various touchpoints with these customers, touchpoints such as your website, social media pages, emails, and promotion materials. Make sure your marketing is consistent within every touchpoint. In order for your marketing to be a success, you need to make sure you’re measuring your performance to see areas where you are doing well and areas you need to improve. I will touch some more on how to measure your marketing success in next week’s article.
Marketing is not a one-off thing, and you won’t see results straight away. It’s important you allocate time and a budget to continuously market your brand.
Don't forget you can get tickets to my Branding and Marketing workshop here!
Have a great week everyone!