How to understand Marketing (And Sales)?

Let's be honest, business owners don't know enough about marketing or sales.

And of-course, it's not a big deal. We are used to being on unfamiliar grounds :)

Gotta start somewhere...

Most small business owners, entrepreneurs and startup builders are doing business for the 1st time. Inexperience and lack of valuable learning resources is the reason why we fail miserably at marketing and sales.

What makes it tougher to excel in these crucial business functions is the noise!

There's lot of misinformation and jargon:"hacks", "shortcuts", "easy money tricks"

Let me make it clear,

Marketing is not magic.

It is hard work.

It is science, art and business rolled into 1. Few examples:

• Science of Marketing: Experimentation, Consumer Behaviour Research, Industry and market research, Persona research, Competition Research, Analytics and ROI
• Art of Marketing: Benefits and Value proposition, Positioning, Messaging, Creatives, Copywriting, Brand Building
• Business of Marketing: Lead generation, nurturing strategies, Channels and campaign investment portfolio, Conversions, Attribution Modelling, Costs of Acquisition, Retention

This is simply a snapshot of the intensive and valuable work that marketing can do for your business and ultimately create powerful revenue and growth engines.

So, ignore marketing at your own cost! Literally...

I empathise with business owners, you just have tons to do! Your day is spent ticking off endless items on your to-do list:

• Hiring the right people
• Building organisation processes
• Figuring out compliances
• Creating financial statements and understanding taxation laws
• Growing Revenue
• Getting the right customers

and the list goes on.....

In this big to-do, marketing and sales are often ignored or given least priority.

Product Development is Challenging

Product development is the biggest challenge, right?

Making something which hasn't existed before is the biggest challenge of all.

You do your research and pour your heart and soul into the new product, it is a fruit of intense labour and you feel accomplished.

What's so challenging about selling the product: people have already told us that they want our product and will obviously buy it.

But once your product is created, you feel stuck. People who said they will buy are not buying your beautiful creation...

Why!!

Nobody else loves or even knows your product like you do

You love your product, which is awesome. But also a big problem.

You are too close to it.

If you did your homework right, you built your product with certain people in mind. Start thinking from their point of view: learn and practice.

Words and actions are different. Many people might say they will buy your product, but a lot of them will not end up buying it.

Does this confuse you?

Don't be...just think about the last thing you told someone you will buy(or do) and didn't end up buying at all: maybe you found something better or your problem was solved anyway or you were just saying it without meaning it at all.

Many times during my discovery calls, I discover myths and biases that come up again and again. Let's talk about them:

Where are my Sales?

Myth: Conversions should happen at the desired Cost Per Acquisition(CPA) for every campaign

This thinking goes against consumer purchasing behaviour.

Let's do a simple thought experiment to understand this: When was the last time you spent your money on something and how did you go about making that decision?

Put yourself in the customer's shoes and try to understand what will prompt people to loosen their precious pursestrings and buy your product.

Consumer purchasing behaviour, what??

Consumer purchasing behaviour is the psychological journey a person goes through that ends in them buying a product(or a service). Any purchase that we do has an associated behaviour and journey to it.

• To understand this for your business, think about how your customer currently goes about buying/using products similar to yours.

Or do this exercise for yourself.

Nobody buys the 1st car from the 1st TV ad they see (except for recent lottery winners, maybe...). We purchase shoes differently than we buy groceries. We use services recommended by friends and family like those of dentists, lawyers and even gyms. We are okay with trying out a t-shirt(from an unknown brand) on Amazon rather than anywhere else.

Depending on what we are buying, we all go through our own buying journeys.

These journeys become complex based on where we live, what jobs we do, who we live with, what our hobbies are and how we consume content.

I want instant results (or moneyback??)

Myth: Any marketing spend should give results(conversions) instantly

That will rarely happen. And almost never when you are just starting out.

You will start with assumptions and experiments.

Every company has to discover their uniqueness. Every company fits in an industry, has competitors, will figure out value propositions, messaging, channels, campaign types and market segments.

If somebody tells you they have it all figured out without spending a single marketing rupee, they are simply lying.

Marketing thrives on iterations and experiments.

Set goals that fit your target customers' buying journey.

If the journey is long, establish your presence and authority in the field long before the customer is ready to buy. And when the journey is relatively short, help the customer to navigate their awareness, consideration and purchase stages.

Your customer becomes aware that they have a problem, after which they start looking for a solution: campaigns at this stage will give assisted conversions.

What this means is that when our customer is "just looking", we should aim for helping them get to the next stage. If we fail here, they might go for a competitor or fall back into passive buying mode.

Take a step back. Invest in helping your customers through the journey.

Don't look for "hacks" and "shortcuts" to push people into buying their stuff urgently, forgetting that you never buy anything like that. In fact,

Being pushy is a disadvantage.

You might get some conversions that way but you would probably be pushing a lot of people away, people who might have really loved your product.

Investing in campaigns around your customer journey will give your business long-term benefits

• by acquiring engaged and loyal customers
• by making your business defensable
• and establishing credibility in your industry.

I am doing Social Media

Myth: I have social media accounts, I am already doing social media

No, having social media accounts does not mean you are "doing" social media.

Ofcourse, if anybody is actively searching for you, they will be able to find you there. But let's face it, who's searching for you anyway?

And that's also not how social media works, if people want to find you, they will find your website or your app.

You are "doing" social media when you have a group(even small) of people engaging with what you are saying.

You are doing social media when you are sharing content and creating conversations that are relatable to your customers. Maybe even highlight the pain-points that your product solves(without mentioning your name and purchase page every time)

You are doing social media when strangers are talking to you.

People are discussing, sending messages to you, telling their spouse, friends or colleagues about something they read or saw through your profile(obviously they will never mention your name here).

So the next time they see your posts, they don't scroll down, they anticipate something familiar.

You are doing social media when you build familiarity and have conversations.

And let's add that none of this happens in a day, in a month or by simply making a facebook page.

Why care about Marketing and Sales at all?

Business owners agree that marketing and sales are important. They bring you revenue.

But most of them don't give it the attention it deserves. To avoid these mistakes, do this:

Know your customer's life,

Be a qualified beginner

Do some tests.

1. Get insanely familiar with your customers life
2. Become a knowledgeable beginner in major marketing and sales channels
3. Do preliminary free and paid tests Or take the help of experts

Want to succeed at selling? Market it first...