The Secret Keys to Marketing in 2018
- Don’t confuse Marketing with Operations.
Supply and demand are represented in the physical business model as Operations and the customer – Where Operations is the supply and demand is the customer. Marketing transcends operations and the customer to ensure supply meets demand. Allowing operations to dictate marketing is a common mistake that we have termed “The Entrepreneurial Dilemma.”
2. Marketing is a verb.
Marketing is both a science and an art. Marketing’s purpose is to position, manage, and innovate to ensure the demanding customers are pointed to your supply and that supply meets demand. It is marketing’s job to optimize this point of equilibrium.
3. The customer matters most.
Companies exist to serve their customers. Their purpose is to provide society, defined as a market, with a good or service that provides a benefit to individual lives. Profit is a measurement for how well a company met the demand of the market it serves. Own your purpose and adapt to the needs of the customer.
4. Data Rules the World. Digital mediums provide accountability.
Marketing and Operations have both hidden under the guise of revenue relativity. Where revenue is accepted as the metric for success rather than a final metric in a succession of mission-critical metrics. The tech community has made it possible for us to evaluate KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) in real-time. A flexible organization, equipped with the right processes, can literally make adjustments on the fly to influence these KPIs. All KPIs, therefore, should point to the final metric of success: PROFIT.
5. “Content is king and Context is God.” – Gary Vee
Is this re-affirming key principle number 2? Yes. But it’s speaking more to the positioning of messaging in the act of marketing. There aren’t many organizations that have bested the marketing of religions. In Christian religions, the bible is the medium, the content is Jesus (king) and his teachings, the context is the Logos necessary for reaching the worshiper. When approaching marketing it is your duty to act like the god of your audiences.
6. Convincing isn’t Sales. Matchmaking is Sales.
Sales 101 tells us that the key to sales is providing a solution – just as we discussed in key principle number 3. Positioning a brand to excite demand and increase revenue is not a matter of convincing non-believers. It’s a matter of finding more believers and strengthening the faith in your product. Therefore, sales are directly dependent on the proportion of the market whose values align with the values of your offering. When metrics are not optimal (defined in proportion to the market) the company must evaluate both its exposure and resonance within the marketplace.
7. Success = Understanding + Execution
Successful marketing management, especially social media management, requires a deep understanding and execution of the 6 key principles outlined here. The 7th key is to adopt keys 1-6 and integrate them into your core set of beliefs and methods.
I can’t stress enough how vital these keys are to your organization and its ability to succeed. If you don’t think you can attain this level of marketing prowess, do not fret. That is actually a good thing. You’re right. As Plato said, “Man was not made for himself alone.” You might be too busy to do it alone and if you really want to build a meaningful company (Link to come) it’s absurd to think you can do it alone. Doing it alone is for the self-employed – Building a team is for the business owner.
If you’re ready to hire someone to be your marketing manager, here’s a guide to doing just that (link to come).
Find Satori, my fellow Salesman.