I hated marketing… for me, marketing has always been that annoying salesman at the door forcing you to buy a product. It took years to understand what real marketing is. So what is marketing and why does a blogger need to understand marketing?
We will look at this and a lot more in this article and understanding these concepts will make you better at what you are doing.
Why do Bloggers need to understand Marketing?
This post first appeared on indianmomvlogs.com
When I started blogging, all that mattered was getting traffic to my website. Most bloggers have the same mindset…after all, no visitors or traffic means no sales. While this is the logical way to go, over the years I have realized this isn’t the practical way.
Understanding your why ( why you are blogging) and understanding the basics of marketing will make you one of the best bloggers.
As a blogger when you understand marketing concepts, you will understand why you are performing certain tasks, where they fall in the bigger picture. Marketing is all about sending the right message to the right person or group of persons at the right time.
Marketing is a science-based on facts. While parts of it can be fine-tuned based on your intuition and experience, you can use the facts to formulate strategies and plan your activities.
Fundamentals of Marketing
So what are the fundamentals of marketing? This is my understanding of marketing as I have read and heard in lectures. This is an insight into some bits and parts I pull into blogging.
What I have learned is that Marketing is based on Science. It is actually a science and not something you just kind of “wing it”. If you follow certain steps ( like you would in a science experiment), you usually will get similar results.
Also, marketing starts before creating a product. It helps you develop a product based on customers’ needs. This is a scientific approach and cuts down on expenses, heart pain, and grief of mistakes. If you know what your customer wants and then provide the right solution for that problem, they will grab your product even before it is made.
Marketing is also about sending the right message to the right person at the right time. Sometimes you get products from friends or family or you might have purchased them yourself.
Soon you find you lose interest in it. That is because it is not someting which you were actively looking for, it is not something which fulfilled a need.
Suppose now that you had a specific problem and were really interested in finding a solution for it. Then you find a product or service which actually helps with that problem.
Don’t you think you will grab the offer with both hands?
Why?
Because it addresses and helps solve the issue on hand. It is the best product for you. Even if that product has flaws or is not completely developed, it still is something that will make you happy because it solves a particular purpose.
Marketing also is a Lifelong process
This is something that is so simple yet overlooked. I have done that myself. You are so focused on getting one sale that you forget to make the product or service the best out there. You forget to think that if the customer liked your product you could sell him something else ( because he already likes and trusts you).
Remember it is very difficult to convince someone to try your product or service ( cold leads) but it is much easier to sell to a satisfied customer.
If you have been purchasing courses or ebooks online, you might have noticed the upsells which come with a purchase.
Once you add say an ebook to your cart, you will soetimes be offered something else to add to the cart. This could be a software which automates the process, video course which helps you get better at a better task.. could be anything.
Why is this done?
These funnels are in place to get more money out of a lead. Once a person has drawn out his wallet to purchase, chances are he will purchase something else which is offered to him. Suppose the next offer is a limited offer or a limited one time discount, the chances of him purchasing that are higher.
The lifetime value of a customer has to be kept in mind before you create a product. Keep in mind that you can always sell more easily to a customer who knows your product, brand, or company. New customers are very difficult to convert.
Marketing includes advertising, sales, copywriting
When I started understanding how deep and wide marketing was… I was overwhelmed and realised it is such a vast topic.
When you are marketing something, you are also going to be working on writing sales copy, you will be learning advertising. You will learn what are the psychological triggers of people that will make them buy. So all in all you realize there is a lot of stuff to be learnt and mastering these skills can be so helpful.
As a blogger or vlogger learning these skills will help you reach more readers. Once you write for the end-user and create content for the user, they will come back for more.
Gradually you realize that you can create products or offer services for the people reading your blog based on the content they read.
Note: You can easily find out your top pages by checking Google Analytics.
Digital Marketing Versus Traditional Marketing
When I was working my manager had asked me to present to salespeople what digital marketing is and how it can simplify sales for them.
Till then the sales process was a traditional approach ( though it was a decent-sized company having around 250 employees in India). They made cold calls, fixed appointments, made a demo of the product ( a software) and then kept following up till they got a sale.
Apart from the fact that it was difficult to get the sales people together in one room at one time… ( they were always on the field), it was a gigantic task to explain what digital marketing was.
Eventually, the PowerPoint was kind of appreciated… no one wants to learn something else … and eventually we setup sales funnels online.
Setting up sales funnels using digital marketing helped us automate lead generation and also we could integrate it into a salesforce type software. This helped track leads and eventually close more sales.
Marketing always existed in one form or the other. In the olden days, we had the barter system ( give and take) . This also involved marketing as if you increased the perceived value of your product you could end up getting more of someone elses product in return.
Traditionally we would exchange goats for grain, brad for rice, and so on…
Slowly money came into the picture and then we started measuring worth by money…
We started sharing flyers, selling via pamphlets, and brochures.. At one-time mail order business was the craze and it still is alive in some form…
Then we started placing advertisments in newspapers ( when print media evolved)…
Irrespective of the way we sold, marketing always existed whether it was for bartering or when using mail order.
This was all traditional marketing…
Digital marketing came when the internet was born ( almost). We now market via online ad portals, websites, Social media platforms…
The internet and online technologies are growing at a mind boggling pace…. it feels so difficult to catch up with technology.
But you can simplify it … and make it very simple if you stick the core principles of marketing… Irrespective of the technology available, stick to the core basics…
Why are you doing a certain task? to sell your product… How will you sell it? How will you reach the customer?
Start with understanding the customer, why he needs your product. Find out where he hangs out online ( Facebook, Linkedin) and then reach out to him where he is…
Let me share a story….
I was at one point pretty active on LinkedIn ( because I generated leads for my clients on LinkedIn). I came across an advertisment for a product for kids which was marketed as a must have if you want to keep your kids engaged and away from television and mobile phones.
I instantly gravitated towards this product and purchased it.
This company had figured out the best way to reach out to customers, they had narrowed down their target market to a “t”.
Parents who are working professionals, feeling guilty leaving their kids with gadgets, wishing they could spend time on activities which were age appropriate, required little to no supervision and were helpful in gaining new skills…
and… I fit that profile…
Eventually, I ended up becoming a micro-influencer for their product…but that’s another story for another day.
The story is whether it be traditional or digital marketing… learn the basics of marketing and then figure out how you can use the existing technology to bring it into action.
Place funnels in place and attract the right customers… So how do we create these funnels?
CATT Marketing Funnel
Let’s take a look at the CATT Marketing Funnel and how you can use it to generate sales and conversions. Basically, the Wealth we generate is equal to the following formula ( niche to the power of Content, Attention, Trust, and Transaction)
Wealth = n^CATTC
This is a system of activities when performed in a cohesive manner will translate into sales or whatever is your desired outcome (transaction).
Content
The very first step is content. In this phase we are leaving footprints all over the internet, leading people to us.
Content includes blog posts, videos, webinars, all the freebies you create on your website. The purpose of this is to attract the right customer.
Creating the right content will ensure that you get conversions.
Attention / Traffic
The attention phase includes all those activities which will drive traffic to the content you created. After all, no traffic means no sales… These include all SEO activities, Social Media interactions, Paid advertisements
Trust
When people trust you, they will purchase from you or accept your recommendations for a product or service. So how do we generate trust?
Well, if you brand yourself (personal branding) or brand your product, this is one factor in generating trust. Branding creates visibility… people start noticing the brand. Slowly, they start researching the brand, looking at google reviews, peer recommendation, advertisments… the more visible you are the more the perceived value and TRUST.
Transaction
This is the ultimate goal, making money in one form or the other. This is the conversion every blogger is waiting for. While money is the goal, money should not be the primary focus. Lasting relationships, sales are based on trust.
A well thought out sales funnel can help you get better conversions. Read on to learn how to create a sales funnel.
The most basic foundation of our funnel is all about finding the best niche. So what is a good niche?
How to Select a Niche?
A niche is the overlap of your talents, passion, and the market. This is a tricky subject and usually can be very overwhelming especially if you have varied interests.
How can Bloggers use Marketing?
How do we as bloggers and vloggers use these time tested methods of marketing and create strategies which are effective and convert?
First and foremost keep the bigger picture in mind. Marketing is all about putting the right product in front of the right person ( the product should solve their need).
This process starts with selecting a niche you want to cater to. Targeting anyone and everyone is not the aim here. REvisit the topic of niche selection mentioned above.
Next is personal branding … while this is not crucial but branding yourself as a blogger and the go-to person in your niche can help to reach out to the right audience.
Personal Branding
This is something which can be very difficult for some. Branding oneself or putting yourself in front of people can be quite scary. There are many bloggers who post anonymously and that is totally fine.
If you are comfortable with showing your face or putting a name to your blog… then you will find that people will connect with you more.
Remember the last time you trusted an anonymous source or blogger… maybe never…
This is because we are overwhelmed with the information available online. We usually turn to trusted news sources, trusted known bloggers, vloggers for the right information…
When you as a vlogger and blogger, establish yourself as a leader and a trust worthy source, people value yoour thoughts and suggestions.
Your personal brand can help you get the message across with least resistance.
While it might be difficult to be known in a competitive niche,you can brand yourself in a sub-niche.
As an example your voice can be lost in the ocean of other bloggers if you try to establish yourself as a parenting blogger. Chances are you can easily establish yourself as a minimalistic mom sharing frugal living tips.
This is known as category leadership and is often used effectively by newbie bloggers to have their voice heard and stand out above the crowd.
The next crucial step to using Marketing as a blogger is implementing the integrated digital marketing approach.
Integrated Digital Marketing
A combination of various digital marketing activities to make the message loud and clear. Also using the right digital marketing channels based on the requirement.
Irrespective of what channel we use we will make sure that our marketing messages are cohesive
Integrated Digital Marketing unifies digital marketing activities so that a cohesive message is being sent out across all channels.
So first decide on the message and what the aim of that message is. Next, select a channel or a combination of channels to deliver that message. Third, ensure that the same message is delivered across all channels.
What are your thoughts on integrating marketing into blogging? Does this simplify the process for you as a blogger? I would love to hear your thoughts…