5 Marketing Tips for Beginners

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What is the most important thing about any business? Creating a customer, right? So to create these customers you need to have an innovation and a perfect marketing strategy. Now, innovation is the product or service you provide to the customer. So let’s talk about the top 5 marketing Tips for Beginners.

What is it?

In general, marketing is the way of promoting your business’s products or services, something you can come up with to create more and more customers.

Your customers have a need. You need to satisfy the needs of the customer through the resources provided by your business. This is marketing.

Now some of you might think of marketing as selling or promoting. Yes, it does include these factors but it is not limited to selling or advertising only.

Peter Ducker defines marketing in his book as follows-

“Marketing is not only much broader than selling; it is not a specialized activity at all. It encompasses the entire business. It is whole business seen from the point of view of its final result, that is, from the customer’s point of view.”

To make your product or service a success, you need to create something that a few people will love. Avoid making something that lot of people just like because naturally I would buy the product or service I love and I can avoid the one I like.

For the perfect marketing strategy, you need to have proper knowledge about every aspect of marketing.

Are there any types?

Yes, marketing is divided into four main categories which have many more subcategories.

1. Cause Marketing

Do you remember the #EducatetheGirlChild campaign which was organized by Nestle or how about the #NoShaveNovember? Well, these two are examples of cause-related marketing.

This kind of marketing is done by a for-profit business that seeks to both increase profits and to better society in accordance with corporate social responsibility, such as by including activist messages in advertising. The main idea is to collaborate with a brand to create a product that brings profit as well as social benefits.

2. Relationship Marketing

Heard about the famous Amazon Alexa? Some of you might even have it with you. It interacts with and lets you control, smart home devices that integrate with Alexa, including appliances. The Amazon Echo Auto also integrates with Alexa to provide navigation in cars. This is an example of relationship marketing. Amazon knows what product is sold the most. So all they have to do is put the features of the original Alexa in it and they are sorted. There are many more examples like Apple or even Starbucks etc.

This kind of marketing is developed from direct response marketing campaigns that emphasize customer retention and satisfaction rather than sales transactions. It focuses on long-term customer engagement rather than the short-term. The main idea is to create strong, even emotional, customer connections to a brand that can lead to ongoing business.

3. Scarcity Marketing

The Spotify app has to be my favorite one for listening to music. But did you know it was not available in a lot of countries when it was created? The app creators rolled out a limited number of invites for their free service and interested people were put on a waiting list. Of course, you could skip the waiting process if you opted to pay for their unlimited or premium offers. And this turned out really beneficial for them as they had about 50 million users across Europe already. This is scarcity marketing.

The main idea behind this kind of marketing is the fear of users’ feeling of missing out (FOMO). It is as easy as it looks, customers will invest their money on products that are scarce. This method may sound offensive to some people but a lot of companies do that. It is business after all.

4. Stealth Marketing

Who wasn’t touched by Tom Hank’s stranded FedEx delivery man in the film Cast Away? FedEx featured prominently throughout the film, both saving his sanity while he was on the island and serving as a touching denouement when he finally delivers the letter that kept him going at the end of the film. This kind of marketing which involves advertising something to a person, without them realizing that they are being marketed to is called stealth or undercover marketing.

Now that was sufficient knowledge for marketing. Let me give you a few tips and tricks that will help you boost your sales and be better at marketing.

Marketing Tips for Beginners

1. If you use the money to create exceptional products you don’t need to spend it on Ads.

Tell me who wants to spend more money on business? The strategy is to spend the least money possible and earn the maximum profit out of it. When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone did he invest in marketing or any such stuff? Yet the product is still there of course with great modifications (but yes companies do apply marketing strategies to promote their brand).

If your product is great and you have a few initial customers, the word will get out and the sales will increase provided customers love it not just like it.

2. Don’t Find Customers for your Product, Find products for your customers.

I have one simple question. If there are 100 products made by your company and almost 90 of them don’t really meet the needs of your customer. I am not saying that your products are useless. They are good just don’t match the need of your customer. Under these circumstances, do you think your business will work? Ok, let us take this current covid-19 situation. During this pandemic, there are two companies. One produced cloth masks and others produced shirts. Whose sales will rise? Obviously, the masks will sell more given the crisis.

This is why you need to create what the person out there needs. No one is asking you not to create any other product. But if you can modify or have options, opt for the customer’s needs first and then take care of your needs. After all only customers can pay you thereby increasing your business.

3. The Story Catches Better Attention Rather than the Product

People love hearing stories. If you have a story behind the product, disclose it. A story can also be defined by a sentence.

You can do so by any form of social media. The story will not only inspire your customers but will also reach out to your non-targeted audience. If the customer can resonate with your story, they will definitely become a follower and spread the word to others.

It is important to note here that if you use the same old ways of telling a story or use an old story, you may not gain any followers. While selecting a story, act like a journalist who brings new and interesting stories.

4. You are Either Invisible or Remarkable.

Ever seen a product in the market which is okay? It is either the best or the worst. There is nothing in the middle. Even if there is something grey between your black and white, it is useless. People want the best, be it anything. Even a packet of chips has so many brands and only those are popular which taste the best. So you have to be remarkable. If you are invisible, consider that as a waste (no offense but it is true).

Also if you think you cannot do this I suggest you quit right now rather than giving up later.

5. Stop Advertising, Start Innovating.

Seth Godin in his book Purple Cow highlighted how innovation is more important than creation. Now, these things are very different from each other. Innovation is so much better than creation. In the book Purple Cow, Seth says that it is very easy to find a purple cow from a bunch of other cows. You need to have a purple cow for your business. Something that is unique and extraordinary. People do not buy goods or services. They buy relations, stories, and magic in your product. So go for something unique.

Also Read: Failure to Success Stories

These tips will surely help you out but the main thing required to follow these tips is motivation and dedication. If you want a future do not dream it. Make it happen.

I hope, you now have all the marketing knowledge you needed and that you liked reading it.