The Ultimate Guide To Step Up Your Marketing Journey
Before I even started to learn the fundamental laws of Marketing, I questioned myself if I knew anything about Marketing?
Well — there were a lot of words that I have read and heard often that started to cloud my mind. Words such as Sales, Advertising, Branding, etc.
But what exactly was meant by Marketing, I admit, I was quite unsure. That is precisely when I was reminded of the great Albert Einstein quote.
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
At this point, I thought to take a deep dive and understand the core fundamentals of marketing. But before we start to learn anything, we have to have a mindset for learning. Passive learning is no learning at all. And I realized our academic education is built on a very weak foundation wherein we learn and eventually forget the concepts because we never really get to apply those concepts.
I wanted to go beyond this very concept and being curious about Digital Marketing, I ended up enrolling for a Digital Marketing Internship with Deepak Kanakraju. I admit I was too focused on the Digital aspect of “Digital Marketing”, but the first thing that resonated when learning with him was the very fact that Digital Marketing is more about Marketing and less about Digital. Digital is just a medium.
On that note, let’s start the real learning journey to the world of Marketing!
START YOUR LEARNING JOURNEY WITH A RIGHT MENTOR
The thing about great mentors is that they can get inside your brain and know exactly what you are thinking. Even before I could start listening about the laws of Marketing, he clearly mentioned some ground rules for the current and all forthcoming sessions.
I could have easily skipped this part thinking it is not really important and continued making digital notes, taking screenshots, speed up the videos and complete the assignments in no time…
BUT…
I know I wanted to learn in REAL. And that’s why I incorporated all the ground rules in my learning journey, and they have been amazingly effective in my growth.
THE GROUND RULES FOR LEARNING
Any great learning is based on some rock-solid foundation. No matter what the subjects, the fundamentals remain the same. A few of them are mentioned below.
- Take Handwritten Notes. A Lot of Them
While the laptop might seem faster and more efficient, the power of taking notes on a high-quality paper-bound notebook with a smooth pen can NEVER be under-estimated.
After a little research, I could find out that note-taking associated with keyboarding involves taking notes verbatim in a way that does not involve processing information, and so have called this “non-generative” note-taking. On contrary, taking notes by hand involves cognitive engagement in summarizing, paraphrasing, organizing, concept, and vocabulary mapping — in short, manipulating and transforming information that leads to deeper understanding.
- Avoid Distractions while Learning. All sorts of them.
In the golden words of Robin Sharma,
“An addiction to distraction is the death of creative production.”
I never focused on the digital distraction that most of us are victims of until I came across this research.
According to research, on an average day the average person at work:
- Is spending 2.1 hours in distraction
- Is interrupted every 11 minutes
- Takes 25 minutes to refocus their mind back on the project they were working on before they were distracted
I realized I was in the same boat. To make a substantial change happen in my life, I understood why focus and a distraction-free mind is important, and I keep leveraging this idea every day.
- Read Good Books. They are Treasure House of Information!
No matter how many blogs or articles your read online, the value you get by reading a good book is priceless! And when you know the best books for a particular category from your mentor you look up to, you know those books are a real treasure! To understand the core fundamentals of marketing, I picked up the book This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See by Seth Godin
So, let’s dive in and understand the true essence of Marketing
WHAT IS MARKETING, REALLY?
Let’s face it, to an average person (like me), marketing equals simply selling at a larger scale. Ask most people what marketing is and they think of some form of either selling (I am great and you should choose me because of reason A or B) or advertising (buy our stuff and you will have a better life, be more attractive, be happier and so on.)
The reality is that marketing sits at the intersection of the business and the customer. While Sales incorporates actually selling the company’s product and services to its customers, Marketing is actually the process of communicating the value of a Product/Service to customers so that the product/service sells.
If this is a process of communication, Marketing is pure science and not based on creativity. In the famous words of Peter Drucker,
“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 not a battle, and it’s not a war or even a contest. Marketing is the generous act of helping someone solve a problem. Their problem. It’s a chance to change the culture for the better. Marketing involves very little in the way of shouting, hustling, or coercion. It’s a chance to serve, instead.
Now how do you serve someone? When you communicate.
Communicate Right Message… to the Right Person… at the Right Time!
This led me to an understanding that Marketing in the simplest terms, is CONVERSATION.
Marketing is a Conversation
Marketing is the conversation that starts between two people who don’t know each other well. Great conversations often lead to understanding the core needs. Great insights eventually lead to amazing products delivered through engaging customer experiences. THIS is marketing.
Taking real-life example — When I meet someone for the first time, I ask them questions. I try to get to know them. I try to understand their dreams, desires, problems, needs, and wants. I do NOT talk about myself unless there is a genuine interest from the other person to learn about me as well. But this only comes from true and authentic empathy. I have to actually care about this other person to earn their trust… Only when the trust is earned, they will seek my advice.
The same is the Marketing scenario with Legendary Brands. They don’t just show potential customers that they are interested in solving real problems, they actually care and prove it in the way they act. They genuinely seek to help their customer to improve their lives through their content, their expertise, their passion, and, if they are lucky, through the stuff they sell. If you wish to plan a legendary brand, answer these three questions.
- What change are you trying to make?
- What promise are you making?
- Who are you seeking to change?
Once you have found answers to these questions, choose a category, and become a leader in that category. Deciding where to compete is half your success!
Find your Uniqueness
Marketing is a game of perceptions. While learning about marketing, one important lesson I learned here is not to aim for #1 but be the only one! If you can’t be a leader in a category, be a leader in a sub-category.
Specific is a kind of bravery, so find your specific, your space, your niche and you are on your way to build a Legendary Brand!
On your journey, there will be a lot of stumbling blocks and great resistance from people on your up. Just shun the non-believers and enter the competitive market. The secret to surviving in any market is having a unique angle to it! If you are able to communicate your unique angle in an effective way (not sophisticated, but effective), you are a great marketer! There is even a formula to find a profitable niche. It is the right intersection of three key factors — TALENT, MARKET, and your PASSION.
THE ROAD AHEAD…
Now that you have a clear picture of the niche you want to market in, let’s find it how to do it through a proper marketing funnel and learn about a framework that is used to actually drive this funnel and deliver astonishing results if implemented correctly.
The formula, if understood well, can create wonders!
Wealth = n^CATT, where
- n = Your Niche
- C= Content
- A = Attention
- T= Trust
- T= Transaction
This works only when we integrate various components of digital marketing. To make any business a success, you are required to utilize all the channels to get substantial results.
THE BEST-KNOWN WILL ALWAYS BEAT THE BEST!
We often remember the names of successful people rather than the companies they run! Be it Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos — all of them make excellent use of personal branding to carve a space in the minds of their audience!
In this day and age, it is important to have a strong personal brand. Using the core concepts of Digital Marketing, my Mentor has come up with a super awesome Blueprint for creating and growing your personal brand. He calls it #MASSTRUST Blueprint.
It involves 6 basic steps that you can use to evolve your personal brand.
1. Learn — Learn Concepts, Facts, and Procedures for acquiring any new skill.
2. Work — Put all the learning into practice and action.
3. Blog — Write down your thoughts, experiences, and learning on a blog.
4. Consult — Start consulting when you have a clear understanding of the subject.
5. Mentor — Scale up your understanding by mentoring others like you.
6. Start-Up — Start your own business with your developed understanding of the market.
CONCLUSION
I hope you got a basic idea of the fundamentals of any learning, and what marketing is all about. If you want to understand the CATT funnel in great detail, know more about the integrated digital marketing, or understand the evolution of a personal brand, I will highly recommend you apply for Digital Deepak Internship Program. This formula has changed the mindset of more than 5000 people, including me. It can surely do wonders for you as well! If you liked this guide to marketing, do leave a comment and share your insights!