Marketing can be overwhelming. There is so much to do and learn. Keeping track of the latest tools or going through analytics can make marketing feel tiring. As a new marketer, there is a lot of information to go through online, but there are a few that you should know as you begin your journey. So, in this article, we will discuss six things marketers should know but usually fly over their heads.
Tell Your Story
Marketing is no longer about listing the features and benefits of a product/service, expecting it to sell itself. Marketing is now about connecting to your target audience. To give them a reason to care about your product in the first place. This shift in mindset has led to companies creating stories around their brand, something that connects with people.
Have you watched Coca-cola adverts recently? They do not talk about the ingredients of coke or what it does for you but have created a story around diversity, connection, and togetherness. These are positive messages centered around the brand. Apple, on the other hand, took another approach.
The story about their brand is that they think differently. They have successfully sold the dream of the iPhone being in a class of its own. A phone that connects all your electronic devices, that is hard to hack, and for elites. Both companies have an emotional connection with their target audience through their brand storytelling.
Brand storytelling has become the most effective tool when connecting with the existing audience while bringing in new ones. Every good marketer should know how to craft a fascinating story or fight for a cause. An example of a company that stands for a movement is Nike. It stands for equality, something that defines them.
In telling the brand story to potential customers, employees will also learn what the company represents. This job is where an HR professional comes in. Their job is to communicate the company’s story and values to their employee.
Know Your Audience
Your audience is the intended target of your product or service. In the past, it was challenging knowing your target, as getting this information required a lot of manual polls, research, and one-on-one interviews to create a buyer persona. Today, we have social media tools that provide analytics and potential audience data at the click of a button. Analytics are good to have and offer great insight, but it doesn’t beat engaging manually. It can be through competitions, sharing content, or recognizing people that are doing well with your product.
Canva recognizes those that create beautiful designs and tag them to the photos. Taking polls can also give insight you insight into what your audience love. Communicating with them is part of the soft skills every marketer should possess.
Marketers Cannot Work In A Vacuum
“No one is an island.” is a familiar statement used today, and the reason is simple. No one can succeed on their own. As a marketer, you need to pay attention to the surrounding competition. Looking at what they are doing right and trying to recreate it to fit your organization is not wrong. Learning and getting pointers from them is normal. The question is what you would do with the information.
If the sales of a competitor increase or improve and you study them to see what they are doing right, then there is nothing wrong with that. But be careful when you do this, as copying and replicating the exact results may have a significant backlash on the company if that strategy isn’t right for you.
Existing Customers Are as Important as New Ones
There is a myth that one’s existed in marketing. It was getting new customers at all costs and neglecting the current customer base. Today is quite different. There has been a shift in the way marketers think, which has to do with retaining customers. Companies have adopted various strategies in other to keep their current customers happy and coming back. Some companies give out loyalty cards that help earn points, and others host competitions that give cash prizes.
Another way to keep customers is to pay attention to what they say on social media platforms. Customers vent out and complain about their dissatisfactions on these platforms. Resolving the situation will show that there is a concern for them. Today, customers have a lot of power compared to the past, where there was no way to give feedback.
Test! Test! and Do Some More Testing
If you are not willing to explore and test as a marketer, you are probably in the wrong line of business. Testing and exploring are some of the primary keys to success. Before an extensive marketing campaign, you can hold a trial campaign to test it out. If the campaign didn’t do well, look hard at it and figure out what went wrong.
There is also the A/B testing done on websites. You carry out the test to determine what landing page gets the most clicks on your CTA (Call-to-action). It commonly involves a lot of try-and-error, and therefore, testing is a must. Don’t worry about getting it wrong. The most important thing is that you get it right in the end.
Perseverance and Skill
We are going to round up our sixth point with more of a reminder than an unknown. Marketers are resilient people. They are goal-driven and goal-oriented, and one trait that any successful marketer must have is perseverance. Skill is necessary, but the ability to keep going when things are not going well (which will be a lot of times, by the way) is of great importance too.
Add to your dedication and skill—continuous learning. The nature of the modern market changes fast. So there is a need to continue learning as you endure. Things can be slow when they start, but it gets better with time and effort.
Final Thoughts
These are six things you should know as a marketer. Don’t forget to have fun with what you do. In the end, it’s the passion, flair, and emotions that keep you going in this field. We know marketing can be overwhelming, but remember the essential parts of this domain—the ones that you need to remember continually while you do your best work.
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