Many people say they hate marketing. That’s usually because they think marketing is all about advertising and sales.
Marketing is a process, not an event. It involves research, promotion, and distribution along with advertising and sales.
Maybe the most important and most overlooked aspect of marketing is having the right marketing attitude or marketing mindset. Think like a marketer.
When you have a marketing mindset, you ask how you can build brand awareness to help your target audience become familiar with your products and services, and you as well. Developing that know, like, and trust factor with your audience is key.
As you develop a marketing mindset, ideas of how to meet marketing goals on a daily basis will come easily, but here are a few ways to get started:
- Know Your Product & Service Inside Out: This may sound obvious but think about how many times we, as customers, have walked away from buying something because the person helping us couldn’t answer a few basic questions about their product or service.
- Find Ways to Leverage Mistakes of Competitors: It’s easy to see what the competition is doing well but just as much (and sometimes even more) can be learned by observing what your competition is doing not so well. The Internet is saturated with career service companies, but what makes your career service better than your competitors? Do your homework. Where are they weak? What client needs are not being met and what can you do to step in and meet those needs?
- Point Clients In Your Direction: Solve client problems. Point them to one of your services or products and emphasize the benefits, value, and results they can gain from it-being a solution to their problem.
- The “Bottom Line” Isn’t Just About Money Coming In: Looking for ways to save is just as important as finding new revenue streams. Instead of just recording where the money is going, watch for places to save. When looking at those numbers is there a way that sales can be made more efficiently?
- Every Client Interaction Is a Networking Opportunity: The word “networking” makes some people uncomfortable. But it doesn’t have to be about schmoozing or closing a sale. It’s simply having a conversation in an effort to build new relationships or strengthen current ones.
“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.”-Peter F. Drucker
In business, everything ties into marketing in one way or form-what you wear, how you communicate (verbally and non-verbally), and what you do to attract, retain, and maintain client relationships. All of it affects or contributes to the profitability and success of your business.
Thinking like a marketer is a way of ensuring your company’s longevity.
