Why fundamental marketing principles are still the cornerstones of online marketing

Do the frequent changes in the digital marketing domain make you feel overwhelmed? 

Do you constantly feel that you do not know enough? 

Or, that maybe, your marketing skills will soon be outdated?

             ....I used to feel the same, but not anymore!

As an online content writer and copywriter, I am constantly discovering new information on digital marketing. Since this is an evolving field there is no way to be on top of all the changes and upgrades that happen in this arena. So believe me, it can be a tiresome task to learn every new technique that comes out. 

What really used to stress me out was the thought that there was something that I do not know which will affect my work. 

But recently I have gained some relief owing to a realization that digital marketing is ultimately marketing, the fundamental principles of marketing remain the same online and offline. This is because human beings are still the ones you are reaching out to in both scenarios.

  If you are a marketing professional (digital and otherwise) or a business owner, you will find the fundamental ideas that will anchor your regardless of the storms of revolutions that constantly beset the online marketing community.

 Fundamental marketing principles ...they apply online too!!

The fundamental laws of marketing still apply to online marketing!!!

Let take one of them -the 4ps- Price, product promotion, and place. 

The 4ps are ever more relevant in the online scenario but maybe with a few modifications. 

Imagine you have to create a revenue of one crore. How do you do it? It is essentially a numbers game. You can sell a hundred rupees item to 1 lakh people or you could sell thousand rupees item to 10000 people or 10000 rupees item 2000 people. There are multiple ways to make 1 crore…. you just have to first put together a financial plan and then work out a way to reach that. Marketing provides that way. When marketing online you need to ask some important questions- What product or services or application could I offer that people could pay thousand rupees to access? Maybe you have a course which would be 5000 to 6000 rupees. Novice The price is decided all you have to figure out is how to deliver that to 1000 people or 2000 people. Having the revenue goals and an understanding of the link between pricing and volume helps gain insights into how to achieve the 3 Ps (Price, Product, and promotion)

 In terms of place, the location is no longer limited to a store or a shop but includes locations online such as discussion hubs, websites, video networks, social media platforms, etc.

 As a digital marketeer your first focus is not the channels of marketing but your customer which is a fundamental concept in marketing – all marketing starts from the customers. So there is no necessity to chase after every new tool or technique that is out there. The essential questions you have to ask are – 

• where do my customers converge?
• How effectively can I use various channels to target them? Is a social media post better or a Facebook ad to reach them? 
• What are some creative ways I can try?

For some even a youtube video or a simple website is sufficient. 

So ultimately, 

............................all your marketing has to start and end with who your customer is and understanding how they think.

 In traditional marketing, the concepts of Michael Porter’s which imply that highly competitive industries require either cost leadership, differentiation, or a focused approach are still valid even if you are marketing online. What benefit are you offering your customer? Are you selling your products at an attractive price or do you have something unique that your customers will not get elsewhere? You would need to look at the end value to the customer. A deep understanding of the value you provide will far outweigh the investment into your logo or website or google ads.

 

Laws of marketing ...SIMPLIFIED!! 

1. Voice of the customer is the essence of all marketing actions- Marketing is a science and not a creative pursuit. How is it a science? It is a science because it can be applied in a predictable manner. Marketing starts with understanding the voice of your customer. What is it the customers that actually need what does your product /service do to fulfill the requirements? Understanding is crucial at the very first step of all your marketing activities. It is imperative that you do not develop what you want but develop a product that is based on your customer’s needs. This is why it is a science because if you can offer customers what they need and there is no barrier when it comes to marketing to them and being successful. The creative aspect is how you are able to come up with creative ways to reach and connect with your customer. The problem with most entrepreneurs is that they end up creating a product that is not really wanted by the customers and hence they have to force people to buy and they try to use marketing to do that. This can be avoided if you first, start with what the customer needs and understanding what they really require then the product will sell itself.
2. Marketing is about the right message to the right person at the right time-Marketing also looks at sending the right message to the right person and at the right time. It is also about keeping the customer happy and retaining them as a customer for offering repeat services and products for life.
3.  Marketing is about building and maintaining trust-This is a highly fundamental principle and even more relevant for any online marketing endeavor. Peter Drucker says that- “the aim of marketing is to understand the customer so well that the product or service sells itself.” Think of marketing as a game of developing trust with numerous people. Ultimately marketing can be seen as an effort to develop trust and then maintaining that trust.
4. Marketing is finding the balance between perceptions and reality-Marketing is about perceptions and a product is about reality. One should make a product so high in value that the product should sell itself. Marketing should not be used to compensate for the flaws in the product. If you don't have a good quality product good marketing will only lead to disaster faster. You should focus should be on a great product. A high-quality product that actually fits the needs of the people. Once you have a good product the word of mouth is sufficient to get in more customers.
5. Marketing cannot solve your product problems-Marketing does help shape the perceptions and help people discover the product. But ongoing sales will depend on how well those perceptions are realized as true.

 

Some modifications to traditional concepts

Increasingly it is found that success is achieved by those who don't try to become number one, become the only one. Focus on uniqueness and differentiation online. Is important to find the category that you can excel in. Marketing can build a strong brand and help people remember you. Try to become number 1 in a category even though it is in a very niche area. Is better to enter a competitive area and then position yourself. You need to differentiate yourself on some level. A creative and innovative approach is vital in fulfilling customer requirements in the digital world. The talk is now about Blue Ocean strategies and moving away from traditional Red oceans. The focus is on

  

Global economics is a factor in marketing

 The economy is affected by household expenditures. India is going to the developing phase and will create a lot of millionaires in the coming years. Who are your target customers? How do they live? How much do they spend online and offline? What do they value most? If you are marketing online you are not marketing to the entire Indian population. If you are marketing online, your target customers are those who are literate, have a car, laptop, speak English, and have a credit card. These are the ones who will actually buy from you online. The masses are not yet fully online except on a few platforms and generally do not purchase online and have to be reached out to offline as well through other traditional means such as billboards, radio, and TV ads, word of mouth, etc.

Traditional and Digital Marketing in the Indian scenario is of a different proportion that the developed world as you cannot depend only on digital marketing if you have to reach the masses.

Digital marketing is the best way to reach affluent few in India. If you are reading this then you belong to the affluent few. Online marketing would work for reaching you and it has. The traditional marketing medium can be used to reach masses where lower-priced products can be marketed. 

The traditional marketing techniques and ideas that are obtained in books such as Scientific advertising by Claude Hopkins, The Ad Week copywriting handbook by Joseph Sugarman and Confessions of advertising man by David Ogilvy are still valuable resources for every marketeer today. How these can be applied using modern tools is up to the modern marketeer to figure out.

 

Understand the CATT Funnel ...and change your RESULTS!!

Here is an important lesson I learned as a part of the Digital Deepak Internship program. Essentially, when it comes to online businesses:

 

Wealth = n^CATT

n- niche

C- Content 

A- Attention

T- Trust

T-Transaction

 

Niche

You may be focusing on digital marketing for small businesses. You are not looking at all businesses, your niche is small businesses or specifically (even better) home-based businesses’ there is a crowd of people and you yell out "Everyone listens up".The chance that you get people to stop and listen is very little. But what if you yell out “All lawyers listen up” or "All designers listen up”? This is essentially what niche marketing does. You get attention faster. 

Content

Content is the reason people engage with your offering initially. You have valuable information that can help them or solve a problem or make their lives better. But you need to have them engaged in your thinking and processes. Conte helps you do that. To write an article or a blog to get people to come to your site is the first step.  You may then create videos, shore interviews, and podcasts or give them an e-book. The content options are numerous. The formula is to have content at the center and then it will get attention which will then build trust and then you have a transaction. Once the content is available people can be reached out through social media or search engines will find it or it will be picked up by some reader and shared. This is where it all begins.

Attention

Attention is how you drive it, people, to your website and content using social media paid ads, or referrals. Maybe you have created a video or a paid ad. It doesn’t matter how but you need to get the attention of the people before they start trusting you.

Trust

Trust is the essence of successful businesses online and offline. Trust can be developed by demonstrating integrity and walking your talk. There are tools to support you as the way in which you communicate and follow up has a crucial role to play in building trust. By using marketing automation following app personalize messages etc.

Transaction

To generate revenues, you do need to have transactions. Transactions are when leads convert into sales. Transactions are not the end of the process but rather the beginning of the process of customer relationship and retention.

Having this model in mind can help you forge your path to success rather than wasting time in trial and error and taking multiple U-turns.

Integrated Digital marketing that packs a ... MIGHTY PUNCH!!! 

The above formula is no just a step but also a way to integrate your marketing efforts. Most of the digital marketers dabble in mediocrity as they do not integrate their efforts. They waste time in scattered efforts which yields partial benefits. An integrated approach with clear focus has a much better chance to help you meet business objectives as compared to a half-hearted and scattered approach. Chasing two or more rabbits will lead you to no rabbits in hand. You have a better chance of chasing one rabbit at a time.

 

Your business vision, product or service offerings, pricing, promotion, processes and techniques should be integrated to deliver the marketing punch that will drive your results through the chatter on the web and reach the customer easily and help them take action.

Parting thoughts

 As a digital Entrepreneur creating a personal brand can prove to be a valuable step.

'Personal Brading is possible regardless of the businesses, you are engaged in.'

When choosing your business, you need to look at your talent your market, and the passion. All three are required for getting the attention of people. But eventually, if you take the right steps you would have created a personal brand. This is different from the product or service you temporarily promote. A personal brand supersedes products and promotions and becomes an intangible asset that comes in handy once you have built it with patience and. Once built it becomes an online powerhouse that reduces the time between attention and transaction. So it is an important step that one should not overlook while taking their business online.

 

This article was done as a part of the digital Deepak internship program. I highly recommend it and if you are interested you can check out the link below:

https://deepak.me/internapply