What is Marketing, really?

Hello there lovely person!

Are you a biz owner,

• that’s always wondered, what marketing really is? Is it social media, or google adwords, or SEO or PR, what is it?

• And why the hell do you even need it?

• Or perhaps you’re someone that’s spent enough and more money on facebook and Instagram ads, or SEO, or hiring a digital strategist, without satisfactory results.

Whatever your case might be, I’m glad you’ve stumbled upon this blog post, because my friend, we’re going to be breaking down marketing to its very basics.

“ Marketing is a bridge that connects - wants and desires with products, services, people or solutions - that can satisfy them!”

Read this definition, read it once again! No matter what jargon or big complicated definitions you see or hear - this is marketing in its simplest, most authentic form.

Let’s look at an example:

Remember the time you wanted to set up your business, and what you were looking for was authentic information,on the options available and an idea on how much it would cost.

It was your need, as a biz owner, to set up a legal entity so you could sell your product or service and earn money. I’m very sure though, that you would have been bombarded with countless ads/messages/sales calls on the various advantages of working with different biz set up companies, some offering discounts, and other freebies and pushing you to work with them.

What you were looking for was information, but what you got was pushy marketing messages.

This is where marketing goes wrong - as a biz set up company, it is important to differentiate between people who are only looking for information and your potential customers, looking at availing your services.

Do not market to people who need information (that is a need) - be authentic, give them the information they need and let them know, that you’ll be around, should they need more information - focus on building a relationship!

Once they communicate with you (through an enquiry, which is a want) only then start marketing them. This way you’ll spend your marketing budget on people that have the highest probability of becoming your customers.

Key takeaway: You do not use marketing tactics to satisfy needs, Marketing is effective when it satisfies a want or a desire.

Before we proceed, let's look at the difference between a need and a want.

A need is something that is required or essential or very important and a want is something that you wish for. If we look at the above example, knowing the cost of setting up a business is a need, whereas having the option of a working desk as part of the biz set up offer is a want.

And now let's look at the difference between a want and a desire.

A want is something you wish for, and is most probably something you do not already have, whereas a desire is something that you may already have, but you want more of it. A want is setting up an office with 1 working desk and a desire is having 5 working desks, with a meeting room space and a function coffee machine. The key difference here is the intensity of the emotion, that distinguishes a want and a desire.

As a biz owner, it is very important to understand the difference between a need, a want and a desire, because your marketing and communication strategy will be completely different for all three categories.

Oftentimes, in Marketing, needs, wants and desires are often used interchangeably, but I want to make sure that you are clear on the difference between all three of them.

Now you may be thinking okay, but why the hell do I still need marketing? I’m creating new products/services, launching them, earning money, why marketing?

Firstly, good question!

Let’s start by defining the core objective of Marketing:

The objective of Marketing is to make your business sustainable in the long run by leaving a legacy that is timeless (also referred to as a brand, but we will touch upon it in another post)

This is the only reason that you, as a biz owner should invest in Marketing! If your long term objective is only to earn a certain amount of money and then close down, you don’t really need marketing, you only need a solid product/service and a sales tactic to earn money.

Now don’t get me wrong, marketing in the short run can be used, to generate sales, leads, create awareness, buzz about your product etc, but those are short term objectives, clearly defined within your long term marketing plan. Short term gains cannot be the only reason why you would undertake marketing, because that is a recipe for failure!

The key here is to view marketing with the same lens that you would view your business. You set up your business with the mindset that it would run for a lifetime, similarly, when you undertake marketing, you need to have the same long term or lifetime mindset.

Now that you understand the objective of marketing, let’s look at why it’s important:

1. It helps you build your brand and your legacy that is timeless. A solid brand builds credibility for your business and creates trust in the minds of your customers.

2. Marketing differentiates your business, in a price sensitive economic condition as people are willing to pay a premium for a good brand experience.

3. Marketing allows you, as a biz owner to connect with your ideal audience, understand them and their problems, gives you the opportunity to their pain points & make a difference in their lives.

4. It helps you bring creative solutions to the world & helps you make an impact (in your own way)

How do you actually market effectively?

Effective marketing, always starts with a strategy!

I cannot stress how important having a marketing strategy really is, it brings me back to my point of how marketing is a long term activity, that may give you quick wins in the short term, but the real benefit can only be enjoyed in the long term.

Hence, your starting point has to be a Marketing Strategy that looks at the next three years, and defines the direction that your business will take.

The #1 reason marketing campaigns and activities fail is because they are not built on the foundations of a cohesive marketing strategy. Having a marketing strategy is important, however what’s key is linking this to the overall business strategy. As an example, if your business strategy is expansion to a new market, then your marketing strategy has to follow suit, and include activities like market research, new product launches, redefining ideal clients, etc. Your marketing budget has to factor in the costs for listing your existing products in a new market, etc. Having a marketing strategy and linking it to the business strategy is super important.

For you all you skimmers, who have come straight to the bottom of the page, I got you because I am exactly like you, let’s do a quick blog post recap:

• Marketing is a bridge that connects - wants and desires with products, services, people or solutions - that can satisfy them!

• You do not use marketing tactics to satisfy needs, Marketing is effective when it satisfies a want or a desire.

• A need is something that is required or essential or very important and a want is something that you wish for.

• A want is something you wish for, and is most probably something you do not already have, whereas a desire is something that you may already have, but you want more of it.

• Oftentimes, in Marketing, needs, wants and desires are often used interchangeably, but make sure that you are clear on the difference between all three of them as your marketing strategy and tactics would be different for each of them.

• The objective of Marketing is to make your business sustainable in the long run by leaving a legacy that is timeless (also referred to as a brand, but we will touch upon it in another post)

• Effective marketing, always starts with a strategy!

In the next blog post, we will be looking at in detail what a Marketing Strategy is, how to create an effective strategy and how to link to your business goals.

I hope that you found this marketing post useful and if you have any questions, or would like to share your thoughts on this topic, feel free to connect with me via Instagram @rutaparanjape