Why you should understand the basics of Marketing before you start learning Digital Marketing?
In fact,
“Digital Marketing is More of Marketing Than Digital”
However,
Most of the Digital Marketers focus mainly on the digital part, not on Marketing.
Digital is the only medium to do marketing. This is very dynamic and keeps on changing with the technology, however, the core and fundamentals of marketing remain the same.
But why you need to invest so much time and energy in learning the basics of marketing?
Here is the answer,
- Marketing is the most valuable investment that gives instant returns. Unlike other professions, such as operations, accounting, manufacturing, HR, administration doest have immediate ROI (Return On Investment).
- Marketing as a topic has existed since the inception of civilization and will be there for years to come.
- Marketing has a long shelf life and is rooted in human psychology. It can not be replaced with technology, however, being leveraged with the technology.
- Marketing can not be outsourced completely, and a must-learn skill for business owners and digital marketers.
Table of Contents
Facts and Myths of Marketing
Here are some facts that a marketer should be aware of.
This is referred to as the immutable laws of marketing. You can find more details in this book here.
- Marketing is based on science, not on creativity.
- Marketing starts even before the creation of the product.
- Marketing is about sending the right message.
- Marketing is not just selling.
- Marketing is developing trust with the customer- Masstrust.
“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself. The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous.”
- Marketing is a game of perception and the product is rooted in reality.
- The great product converts your customers into brand ambassadors
- Sales and advertising are the components of marketing.
- Marketing is not just helping people discover the product, but also have a good perception of the product.
Communication Is The Key To Success
Good marketing is all about good communication. Good communication does not mean sophisticated and stylish English.
It should be as simple and effective so that can be understood by the masses. Write like you are talking to your customer or the reader.
Need not to start a conversation, jump, and join a conversation in people’s minds.
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make but about the stories you tell.”
People are not interested to understand the logic but interested in the stories you tell.
Communication skills can be improved by writing a lot. And writing can be improved through reading books, watching standup shows, and movies.
This also improves thinking ability and copywriting skills. That is the most important skill for content marketing.
“You can’t sell anything if you can’t tell anything.”
So the communication skill is vital for the success of any marketer.
Pro Tips:
Practice until you become perfect.
Read – 30 minutes a day – Books of interest, various articles on business sites
Listen – 30 minutes a day – Podcasts and other talks in your area of interest
Watch – 30 minutes a day – Ted Talks, Sitcoms shows, etc.
Write – 500 words a day (at least) – Start with a blog
Think – Think in the language of your business, if it’s English, then think in English!
Understanding Global Economics
Every entrepreneur should learn about global economics to understand the market well.
A country’s economy goes up as the average age of the country goes up.
Also, we should understand that debt creates money in the market.
And any recession creates a strong company that can sustain even in adverse marketing conditions.
Indian Economics- A Case Study
- India is a huge marketplace due to the young average age and good buying capacity.
- India’s wealth is concentrated on a segment of the population only.
- Study shows that most of the wealth is concentrated on only 110 million population out of 1.37 billion total population.
- Out of this, only 23 million have households.
- 20 to 25 million people are online shoppers
- Expected to grow up to 30-35 million until 2025
- And this population is concentrated in the top 10 cities in India.
So, by understanding the economic conditions of any country, you can decide your target customer for your product to market and sell.
Traditional Vs Digital Marketing
There are different scenarios wherein traditional ways of marketing are still successful. Example of traditional marketing is TV ads, Radio, Newspaper, Billboard ads, etc.
If we want to reach a large audience with a generic product with wide targeting then traditional marketing is useful.
However, digital marketing is best to reach a targeted audience with a personalized message.
In both cases, Direct Response Marketing is the most appropriate way of doing marketing.
So, what is Direct Response Marketing?
According to MarketingEvolution.com– “Direct Response is the type of marketing design to elicit an instant response by encouraging the prospect to take a specific action.”
For example:
- An ad in the newspaper with a phone number to call (Traditional Marketing)
- A late-night infomercial with a phone number to call and order (Traditional Marketing)
- An ad leading to a landing page with a lead form (Digital Marketing)
- A sales page with a product with a link to purchase that product (Digital Marketing)
Understanding CATT Marketing Funnel
The end goal of any marketer is to sell the product and create wealth.
But, keep in mind that the product or service must solve the problem of your customer, it is not just to create wealth but the value and trust.
According to CATT Marketing Funnel Framework, Wealth= n^CATT
Where,
[n] is Niche– Your success & wealth depends on the niche you choose. It should be very specific.
You can not sell everything to everyone, so you need to find the niche or topic, you are passionate about and have very good knowledge, and also there should be a market for the same.
According to the Hedgehog Concept, the intersection of three circles (Passion, Skill & Market) is your perfect niche.
[C] is Content- Content is the King and content creation is the Kingdom. Content is a great way to attract your audience and give them values and eventually end up selling your product or service.
There are many forms of content such as Blog posts, Social media posts, videos, webinars, lead magnet, and more. We should always focus on the content which can solve the problem or can add some value to your audience.
[A] is Attention- After creating valuable content for your audience the next things which come is attention, which means the traffic to your content. There are so many ways to drive the attention of people and drive traffic to your website using SEO, Social Media Channels. Paid Advertise, and Referrals.
[T] is Trust- Trust building is an important skill that converts your audience to a buying customer. When people trust you and your brand they will transact with you easily and the product will sell naturally.
Nurturing your leads through personalized communication and continuous interaction will help to build trust and convert them to loyal customers.
This can be achieved through direct response marketing, retargeting, mail automation, and offering some free valuable content like an ebook, video course, etc.
[T] is Transaction- After going through all the phases you will be able to transact with your audience easily because you nurtured them with the value and build the trust already. This will help you to convert your leads into buying customers and the product will sell naturally.
Understanding the Importance of Branding
Why branding is an important ingredient for marketing?
Branding helps you to position yourself in the marketplace. If you are the authority in your niche in your marketplace then you have a strong brand.
So choose the category (Perfect Niche) to become a leader in that category. People only remember the number one but do not be the number one, be the only one.
If you can not be the leader in the category, then be the leader in the subcategory (Micro-niche).
You may not need a unique niche, just enter the competitive market with a unique angle.
Power of Personal Branding
Why personal branding is more powerful than a company brand?
Because, People want to hear from people, not from the brand.
That’s why Elon Musk has a bigger following than his companies SpaceX and Tesla.
Neil Patel and Digital Deepak have become a personal brand in the digital marketing space today.
A personal brand helps to position yourself in the marketplace. It can give rise to many brands from his/her influence. A personal brand becomes an influencer and a brand ambassador for companies that they run.
“Best known will always beat the best”
Evolution of Personal Brand
Building a personal brand is not an overnight process. This takes years to build trust with your customers by consistently adding value through your product or services.
This is coined as MassTrust.
MassTrust is a step-by-step process of building trust with the customer and becoming a personal brand.
- Learn: Everything starts with learning. Learn and understand the concepts, remember the facts, and practice the procedures continuously.
- Work: Put your learnings into implementation. It will make you understand the concepts practically. You can work through Job/ Freelancing/ Own Projects.
- Blog: Write what you learned, that will give you clarity on your ideas. Create a blog and start writing, it will improve your thinking ability.
- Consult: Once you have learned, worked & have relevant experience, then you can start consulting. This will boost your confidence in your topic /niche.
- Mentor: Teaching is the best way to expand your knowledge. Mentor people who want to achieve success like you. Mentoring will help you scale-up your understanding of your topic /niche.
- Startup: Start your own business and become an entrepreneur with the help of skills and knowledge that you have developed.
Integrated Digital Marketing
Integrated Digital Marketing is the integration of multiple marketing strategies to form a cohesive online approach for your business.
The idea behind integrated digital marketing is that, while each strategy doesn’t have a huge impact on its own, when used in conjunction, you can create a more influential online presence and reach wide targeted audiences to acquire a better conversion rate and ROI.
The above flowchart describes the process of integrated digital marketing. Each one serves a unique function, but when used together, it boost conversation many folds.
Some of the digital marketing methods used are:
- Content Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization
- Social Media Marketing
- Paid Advertising (SEM /PPC)
FAQs On Basics Of Marketing
1. What is a Marketing Mix?
A mixture of several ideas and plans followed by a marketing representative to promote a particular product or brand is called the marketing mix.
2. What do the 4 Ps of marketing mean? The 4 Ps of marketing is a famous concept that summarizes the 4 basic pillars of any marketing strategy, namely, Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. 3. What are the types /strategies of digital marketing?- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- Pay Per Click (PPC)
- Social Media Marketing (SMM)
- Content Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Influencer/ Affiliate Marketing
- Viral Marketing
- Mobile Marketing
- Electronic Billboards
- Instant Messaging Marketing
Conclusion
Digital marketing is the backbone of today’s economy. It is a skill that everyone should have irrespective of their job profile. In fact, there is more non-marketing background opting for Digital Marketing as a profession. I am also one of them. But before starting the digital marketing profession you need to understand the core concept of marketing.
Do you think that digital marketing is just another profession or area of study? In fact, this is an essential part of our life and we practice it daily knowingly or unknowingly. Every time you tweet, post, share or comment on social media, you are marketing yourself and building your own personal brand online. Digital is only the medium of doing so, however, the concept remains the same.
Marketing is the core of Digital Marketing and is important to understand its concept before you dive into the digital marketing space.
If you like this post, please do comment below. Also, let me know how you like the new concepts of Marketing- Catt Marketing Funnel and MassTrust.
Cheers 🙂
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Nice. Very good information.
Thanks, Pragna 🙂
Glad that you liked this post.