Why is marketing so painfully difficult for some? If anybody ever told you that they are able to market something effortlessly, like it's second nature to them, they are fibbing. Hands down, it is the most difficult activity in the world. Yet some are unarguably better at it than others. That is true of both individuals and organisations.
What gives? Why is it like that, and what can we do about it? Is there a switch that we can flip that will make marketing a simple and easy job to perform? What do the most successful marketers in the world do differently from the rest of us?
It is all very well for the grand daddy of management theory and practice, Peter Drucker, to say that ”the aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself,” but the million-dollar question is, does that happen in real life for everyone who gets that part right?
What if your customer still doesn't come to you, or your product or service is just one among many others offering more or less the same things that you are? What if some of your competitors’ products are so well entrenched in the minds of your prospects that they won't give you a look in, even if your product or service is superior?
As you can see, marketing is as tough as tough can be, and if somebody excels at it with all the challenges it offers, they deserve all the accolades in the world. Consumer behaviour and buyer psychology are, of course, the essential components of the marketing process. You have got to be able to unerringly put your finger on the pulse of the consumer in terms of why they choose a certain product or service over another. What are the psychological or emotional reasons that make them behave the way that they do? People who get that make great marketers.
That is what makes street vendors and people selling their wares at flea markets so good at plying their trade. Without any fancy management degrees to their names, they are able to sniff out their customers with the help of instincts they have honed with much practice and experience. They can read their prospects’ body language and even disposition to buy with remarkable accuracy. Of course, they are often pushy and overbearing, but they do get an essential part of the marketing process right- observing and understanding the customer well enough to read their intent to buy.
Listening to the customer
Extrapolating the above example to an organised business or corporate organisation, it is not enough to get traffic to your website, for that by itself will not result in sales. If you don't begin by listening well and very carefully to your prospective customers, you will not be able to show any interest in your offerings as they would not speak to their specific wants.
The thing is that customers in the digital age are invariably very hard-nosed ones. They are fully aware of what they exactly want, as well as the options available to them. You have got to give them a chance to tell you what they want from your product or service by engaging with them on a deeper and more personal level than before. You need to be able to book a permanent place in their mind. As you need to make that effort to get inside your customer’s mind, you had better listen hard to what they are saying.
You better tell your story right
If you are sure that you know your customer inside out, it is time for you to ensure that they know about your product or service inside out. That can only happen if you can tell them your story right. Your ability to connect with your customer via your tale well told will form the foundation of your marketing effort directed towards them.
The ability to make them see your story as their own will connect you with them in an emotional and subliminal manner, allowing you to draw them in like a bucket of water extracted from a well. Hark back to how a flea market salesperson appeals directly to your emotions above everything else, leading to quicker sales. Always look at things from your customers’ perspective and not yours, and you will know exactly what to communicate with them.
Remember brand loyalty from the customer will follow from customer loyalty from the brand.
Make marketing a priority
Very often, business owners and CEOs do not accord marketing the importance and top priority it deserves. They are busy chasing production deadlines, overseeing day to day operations and ensuring that all the parts of a business run like a well oiled unit, forgetting that marketing is the life blood of a business.
Thinking with a marketing perspective ensures that a business never loses sight of the fact that, ultimately, the success of whatever one produces or provides has ready customers.
Your product matters
If there is one thing that marketing doesn't reward, it is fluff. Snake oil salespeople never make good marketers. If your product or service is outstanding, you can market it well on the back of its attributes. Japan, in the aftermath of the Second World War, was known as the land of low-quality products. In a few decades, however, they started making the world's undeniably best products in the process, garnering colossal global market share for everything ranging from cars and motorbikes to consumer electronics items. The sheer quality of their products made their brands’ marketing easy.
Today, Chinese EV manufacturers like BYD are witnessing the repeat of this story. There was a time when Elon Musk had laughed at the very thought of BYD being a competitor to Tesla, but today his electric car company looks slated to lag behind its one-time weak competitor. Focusing on one’s product quality and, in the words of the famous dialogue from the movie, The Godfather, making the customers an offer they simply cannot refuse, because it is so good, is something that can make the marketing effort as easy as can be.
Marketing can be turned from excruciatingly difficult to smooth and easy if one focuses on the essentials. Understanding the customer just right, regaling them with the right tale about how you have their best interest at heart, making a sincere effort when it comes to marketing your offerings and topping it all with a product or service that is undeniably stellar will help you achieve just that.
Your marketing outreach strategy and the tools you use to implement that will really work for your brand if you predicate them on the principles enunciated above, as these help you focus on what it is that works both for you and your customers.
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