Becoming A Marketing Re:volutionary
Too Long, Didn't Read: Summary
Re:volutionary Marketers build their businesses on trust and context while the Uninitiated struggle to survive. They also leverage technology and psychology to achieve their goals. This mindset is the foundation of good inbound marketing programs that have high ROMI.
To become a Marketing Re:volutionary, see the "The Re:volutionary's Creed" at the end of the article.
And don't forget to share!
Once upon a time...
... everything was new and novel. Homes had one screen - the TV & perhaps a radio. We subscribed to magazines and newspapers. We went to the movies and watched TV shows.
We wanted as much content as we could get. Businesses built on this trend and gave us as much as we could handle. Ads, sponsored movies, product placements, bill boards, hoardings, print ads, direct mail, radio spots and even cold calling. Many of the messages were interesting and we traded our attention for entertainment - and eventually, we traded our money for the products brands were pushing.
Both marketers and consumers were happy.
Technology: Always Ready With The Monkey Wrench
After a while, with technological developments, the amount of information out there exploded. Marketers kept pace and they were milking the new technology to the hilt. For marketers, there was one simple rule: When more people saw their ads, they made more money.
And they ran with it.
Turn on the radio - ads. Turn on the TV - ads. Open a magazine - ads. Visit a website - ads. Open the inbox - ads.
Suddenly, there was a lot more stuff coming at us than we had time or energy for. We were overwhelmed and frustrated. We lost control. We wanted a way out - and a way back to a simpler time when we could handle the information & marketing we were exposed to.
Power Struggle & A Dynamic Equilibrium
Luckily, technology helped us cope by filtering out the stuff we didn't want. Suddenly, things were back in control. We could choose what we wanted and when we wanted. And if we didn't like something, we could just block it.
Why isn't this working?!?
Many marketers couldn't adjust to this shift in the power dynamic. They continued doing what they were doing before - trying to grab attention with ads and getting in front of as many eyeballs as possible. The old ways didn't work as well and profit margins were slimming. The old strategies were crumbling and going up in flames.
Rising From The Ashes
From the ashes, a new way of marketing emerged. Some marketers started believing in a different rule: Treat others the way you like to be treated. Their marketing was no longer a game of getting as many eyeballs as possible, but of getting the right eyeballs. It was not about interruption, but about getting permission.
Meet the Marketing Re:volutionary
These marketers thrived, in spite of the barriers technology put up. In fact, you could even say that they thrive BECAUSE of these barriers. They bring so much value and relevance to their messaging that consumers WANT to get emails from them. Cases in point: Seth Godin and Mark Manson.
I call this breed of marketers The Marketing Re:volutionary.
They have overthrown the old shackles of push marketing and are now breaking new ground in terms of getting their messages heard with relevance, context and value.
In case you're wondering, the ':' in the name is critical. It sets out some of the most important aspects of the marketing approach followed by these folk: context, conversation, audience initiation and is a hat-tip to the conversations we have in email. NB: Email is the backbone for Re:volutionary Marketing.
The Uninitiated: Stuck In The Past
Other marketers and business owners, especially a majority in India, are still following the "Us vs. Them" mentality and are shot down - or leave a lot of money on the table. Relying on purchased lists, shady affiliates and poor marketing techniques, their messages never reach their audience. Though shunned and ignored, these marketers persist in the definition of insanity - trying the same thing again and again but expecting different results.
I call them the 'Uninitiated'.
How To Become A Re:volutionary
The Uninitiated can benefit greatly by an education in inbound marketing. Inbound marketing is not about a stable of techniques or a set of tools. It's a mindset change. It's about thinking like a Re:volutionary and adopting their creed: Treat others the way you like to be treated.
Three Phases of Inbound Marketing
The Re:volutionary's Inbound Marketing process consists of three phases: Discovery, Conversion and Nurture, following which the lead is passed on to the sales process.
Phase 1: Discovery
Inbound marketing begins with discovery. You need to be discovered by the right kind of people - those who fit your ideal customer's persona and get them to your site. We can engineer discovery in a number of ways, but the most popular and cost effective ways are based on content.
Basic Discovery Techniques
The most common techniques are blogging or podcasting (creating valuable content over time about your area of expertise), using social media to find the right psychographic cohorts (sets of people who think & behave alike) and advertising (and targeting your ideal audience). There are other advanced techniques as well - usually involving networking, growth hacking and technological endeavours, but for most inbound marketing programs, the ones above prove sufficient.
Phase 2: Conversion
Once you have visitors on your website, the next step is to convert them to leads. In the majority of cases, this doesn't happen overnight. Visitors need visit your site a number of times to understand what you have to offer and to see if they like what you're offering. Finally, when they emotionally buy into what you have to offer, they're ready to become a lead.
An Equation Of Trust
Leads are generated via sign up forms that trade an asset of value, called an opt-in bribe or lead magnet in marketing circles, for the visitor's contact details. In this interaction, we are attempting a trade of two things of value - the visitor's details & the lead magnet.
What Makes Inbound Marketing Successful?
The entire success of any inbound marketing program hinges upon this step. For the visitor, their personal details are valuable and they will trade it for something of equal or greater value. When they're entering their details on a form, visitors believe that the lead magnet they're getting is as valuable as their personal details, but they can't verify the value until they download the asset.
All they have to go on is the experience they have had with you so far.
Essentially, they're trusting that the lead magnet you are offering is as good as - or better than, anything you have put out so far.
Phase 3: Nurture
Once you have leads, you need to prepare them for sales. Many marketing programs drop the ball here and immediately try to close the sale. Instead, in good inbound marketing programs, leads are nurtured and made sales ready by giving them relevant content that adds a lot of value and moves them down the marketing funnel.
Email marketing and content marketing are key tools in lead nurturing as they are used to qualify leads and evaluate the lead's score - a measure of sales readiness of the lead.
Bonus Phase: Sales*
Once the lead has been qualified as a lead ready for sales, it's passed on to the sales team, usually via the CRM. This marks a milestone in the inbound marketing process, but the inbound marketing process is not done. Marketing and sales exist in a dynamic equilibrium where both sales and marketing work together, usually with the CRM and automation systems, to further improve the quality of the lead.
Together, these systems track the lead's activity to update the lead's score, add sales intelligence and identify further opportunities for nurturing. This feedback loop presents both marketing and sales teams with up-to-date information about the lead and greatly improves the odds of closing the sale.
* I know that Sales isn't a bonus phase, but see 'The Marketing & Sales Spectrum' below.
The Re:volutionary Mindset
One key aspect of the Re:volutionary's mindset that makes the inbound marketing process work is the view they hold about marketing and sales. For the Uninitiated, marketing and sales are distinct entities, each with its own agenda and usually at loggerheads with each other.
The Marketing & Sales Spectrum
For the Re:volutionary, marketing and sales are different ends of a spectrum and it's impossible to tell where marketing ends and where sales begins. This allows Re:volutionaries to maximize the benefits of inbound marketing programs and achieve better ROI than the programs run by the Uninitiated.
In Summary
If you're in the business for the long haul, one night stands are not going to cut it. What you need are relationships that last - the ones that are built on trust. As long as you keep that fundamental idea front and center in everything you do, you are well on your way to become a Re:volutionary.
Bonus: The Re:volutionary Creed
Becoming a Re:volutionary is quite straightforward. All you need to do is follow the creed.
The Re:volutionary's Creed
- Treat others the way you like to be treated.
- Ask permission.
- Build trust, not a pipeline.
- Build a community, not a database.
- Share with context, empathy & honesty.
- Bring your friends home.
- Ask for the sale.
- Hone your craft.
- Haters gonna hate.
Stay tuned for the next article that explores The Re:volutionary's Creed further. Please share this article as well.
Till next time,
Arvindh Sundar
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Credits
My thanks to the people below for the images.
- Photo by Tom Roberts on Unsplash
- Photo by Sven Scheuermeier on Unsplash
- Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
- Photo by Ahmed Rizkhaan on Unsplash
- Photo by Chinh Le Duc on Unsplash
- Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash
- Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash
- Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
- Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash
- Photo by Micha? Parzuchowski on Unsplash
- Photo by James Pond on Unsplash