This is Marketing, a book by Seth Godin written for people who are just starting out.
In this book, Seth Godin doesn’t throw complicated jargon at you. Instead, he talks to you like a friend. It’s a book that’s not only informative but also a pleasure to read.
Marketing, marketing, marketing. Everywhere we go, we see marketing. Everywhere we look, companies are promoting their products and services.
Throughout the day, from the moment we wake up to the time we go to bed, we are bombarded with advertisements, brands, as well as promotional messages.
When you post a photo on Instagram, you’re marketing. Similarly, when you recommend a book to a friend, you’re marketing.
Marketing isn’t just about selling your products and services to your customers. It’s also adding value and solving the problems of customers.
Let’s just understand the lessons one by one.
1. Understand first, then market:
In the past, marketing revolved around mass media like TV, newspapers, and radio. Marketing today is about genuine service and creating real value.
There was a time when traditional advertising strategies worked effectively. But in today’s marketing world, it requires understanding and connecting with the target audience.
True marketing is an act of service, providing solutions to real problems rather than pushing products on people.
Understand these three things first:
a. Product or service:
Understand, what are your product features? Its benefits? How does it stand out from its competitors?
b. Target audience:
Know who you are marketing to. What are their preferences, pain points, needs, and desires?
c. Marketing dynamics:
Marketing isn’t static. It evolves, dances, and shifts with time.
What worked yesterday might not work today. So, keep an eye on the latest trends, the buzz in the market, and what your competitors are up to.
2. Reaching to the right audience:
While marketing a product or service, the real challenge is reaching the right people. It’s kind of like matchmaking—trying to find the perfect fit for your product or story.
Marketing isn’t just about telling the world about your product. It’s like making a new friend and sharing something cool that you know they’ll love.
In other words, think of it as a conversation, not a sales pitch.
Imagine sitting down with a friend and really getting to know them—what they love, what they fear, and what they dream of.
That’s how you begin your marketing journey—by understanding the wants and needs of the people you want to serve.
In other words, focus more on psychographics than demographics.
Marketing is not just about promoting and advertising products. Rather, it’s about creating change and making a difference in society.
Real marketers are problem-solvers. They’re like superheroes.
So, when you start marketing, promise these three things to yourself.
a.My product is for the people who believe: Your product is not just for anyone; it’s for those who share your values, vision, and passion. In particular, it’s for those who believe in you and your products.
b.I will focus on people who want: Not everyone is your customer, and that’s okay. Instead, focus on the people who need your products or services.
c. I promise that engaging with what I make will help you get: Make a sincere commitment to deliver value to your customers. With that in mind, promise yourself that every time someone buys your product, it will solve their problems.
3. Stories, connections, and experiences:
Often, we have heard the phrase “Content is king, but engagement is queen.”
Why?
It’s because quality content attracts visitors to websites, blogs, or social media pages and drives action to buy your products or services.
Mostly, people relate to the stories.
When you share a story with people, it means you are sharing experiences. This shared experience forms connections between people and the products you sell.
Remember, people might forget what you said, but they’ll remember how you made them feel.
So, learn the art of storytelling to make your content more relatable and impactful.
4. Empathy fuels connections:
Empathy is the heartbeat of modern marketing. It’s not about what you want to sell, but what they want to buy.
When you can feel what they feel and see the world from their perspective, you’re on the right track.
There were days when marketing was primarily about showcasing a product’s features.
Moreover, today, consumers have a huge variety of choices.
What makes them choose one product over another is often not its features but the story behind it.
Like anyone else, every marketer has goals, targets, and projections. But these shouldn’t be the starting point; rather, consumers are.
In order to truly connect, what do they need? What are their pain points? What are their dreams? Understanding these questions is important. This is where empathy comes into play.
5. Status quo:
Why do people purchase one car over another? Why do they choose one fashion brand over another?
The decision seems irrational to you, but it made perfect sense to them. People often focus on social status.
When a marketer offers new services or products, it influences a person’s status and their worldview.
For marketers, understanding these three factors is important:
How does a product or service impact the consumer’s perceived status?
Is there a strategy for a product or service to showcase its industry-leading qualities effectively?
How can we create a sense of affiliation or community around a product brand?
For instance, uber built its brand on dominance. It rapidly entered and expanded into numerous cities and countries, despite having competitors.
6. Blueprint to success:
In the book “This is Marketing,” Seth Godin divides the modern business plan into five sections: truth, assertions, alternatives, people, and money.
The truth section includes the market you are entering, the needs of the market, your competitors, technology standards, and how others succeeded and failed in the past.
Be specific; the more specific, the better. The more detailed information that is available, the better.
The assertion section describes launching a product and the expected market response. The purpose of launching a business is to make a change in society and make things better.
Assertion section is the heart and soul of the modern business plan.
The alternative section will tell you what you have to do when things go wrong. If your initial plan doesn’t work as expected, have a backup plan ready to implement.
The people section highlights who is on your team; it means their backgrounds, experiences, attitudes, and the specific value they bring to the table.
Lastly, the money section offers a clear picture of your financial needs, spending framework, profit-loss, detailed balance sheets, margin evaluations, as well as existing strategies.
Start with a spreadsheet to map out your business strategy. Once you’re clear on your principles, everything else falls into place.
7. Goal, strategy and tactics:
Marketing is not just about selling your products or services. Rather, it’s about solving the problems of the people and making a change in society.
To understand this journey of change, we first break it down into three interconnected pillars: goals, strategies, and tactics.
Ultimately, your goal should be to make a change in the world.
For instance, if you’re launching a meditation application, your goal might be to reduce mental stress.
Then, next is strategy. The strategy should be to create a user-centric, engaging, and accessible platform.
If you successfully build your strategy, then you will get closer to your goals.
Lastly, there’s tactics these are the specific actions you’ll take to execute your strategy. You can change tactics when they don’t help you enough.
Now, let’s talk about the brand name Coca-Cola. They had a goal: they wanted everyone to have a Coke in their hand and a smile on their face.
Furthermore, the strategy they used was to run lots of advertisements to convince everyone that Coke was a part of the happiness in their lives.
These ads were always changing because the actual content of each ad was a specific tactic.
Thus, master these three marketing pillars before you kickstart your ad campaign.
8. Brand marketing makes magic:
Today, more businesses are running ad campaigns than at any other time in history.
Simply tap the “boost” button on your chosen social media platform and launch your ads – this is known as direct marketing.
Certainly, with online ads, you get precise audience targeting, immediate reach, and measurable results.
Direct marketing is action-oriented, while on the other hand, brand marketing is culturally oriented, which can’t be measured.
Brand marketing requires lots of patience and consistency. It promotes a company’s brand, boosts awareness, and leaves a lasting impact on consumers.
If you don’t have patience don’t waste your money on brand marketing because it can’t be measured but it still matters.
The brand marketing techniques include storytelling, visual consistency, emotional engagement, and more.
9. Price – beyond numbers:
The price of the product dictate based on the story you tell consumers. Are you positioning as a luxury or a bargain? Think about it.
As Seth Godin highlights in his book ‘This is Marketing,’ there are two key concepts to keep in mind: Marketing changes your pricing, and pricing changes your marketing.
How you price your product or service will influence how it is perceived by customers.
People make assumptions based on your pricing of products. If the price of a product is low, then consumers might assume that the product is of lower quality.
And if the price of product is high then people believe that the brand has a strong reputation.
Furthermore, most of the companies market their products or services for free just to spread awareness.
In the book Seth Godin describes pricing as a marketing tool. It shapes perceptions, builds trust, and influences marketing dynamics.
10. Fix the funnel:
Visualize a funnel divided into two parts: the top and bottom layers. In the top layers of the funnel, you spread awareness of your products or services.
At the bottom of the funnel, you retain customers. However, sometimes, between the top and bottom of the funnel, some customers walk away.
This is all because of a lack of trust or mismatched expectations.
In the book “This is Marketing,” the author Seth Godin lists solutions to fixing funnels.
a) Reach out to the right people:
Firstly, find your people and connect with them. Building trustworthy relationships with the right people makes all the difference.
It’s about quality, not just quantity.
b) Match your promise with your end goal:
Make sure what you say aligns with what you plan to achieve. It’s all about keeping your word.
c) Simplify the journey; less is more.
Life is complicated enough, isn’t it? When it comes to our goals, let’s not make them any harder than they need to be.
The simpler, the better. After all, less truly can be more.
d) Be supportive and understand people’s dreams and fears:
Show empathy and encouragement to those you work with.
Understand their aspirations and concerns, and offer your support. When you’re there for others in their moments of need, you build strong bonds.
e) Add some tension for that extra push forward:
People find stability in their comfort zone; it’s a tension that drives action. You can drive action by creating urgency, such as limited-time offers.
f) Word-of-mouth marketing:
There’s nothing more powerful than word-of-mouth marketing.
When customers have a great experience with your product or service, they naturally want to share it with others.
Encourage your customer to share their positive experiences with others who share similar interests.
Conclusion:
In the book “This is Marketing,” Seth Godin offers a fresh perspective on marketing for those starting out.
Here are key take aways from “This is Marketing” by Seth Godin for beginners:
- Understand First, Then Market:
- Shift from mass media to genuine service.
- Understand your product/service, audience, and dynamic marketing trends.
- Reaching the Right Audience:
- Marketing is a conversation, focus on the right people.
- Understand wants, needs, and beliefs of the audience.
- Stories, Connections, and Experiences:
- Engage audience through stories.
- Shared experiences form connections.
- Empathy Fuels Connections:
- Understand consumers’ needs, pain points, and dreams.
- Focus on the story behind the product.
- Status Quo:
- People make decisions based on perceived status.
- Understand how a product impacts this status.
- Blueprint to Success:
- Godin’s modern business plan: truth, assertions, alternatives, people, and money.
- Goal, Strategy, and Tactics:
- Set clear goals, strategize effectively, and apply tactics that align.
- Brand Marketing Makes Magic:
- Focus on brand marketing’s cultural impact.
- Consistency and patience are crucial.
- Price – Beyond Numbers:
- Pricing impacts perception and brand trust.
- Use pricing as a marketing tool.
- Fix the Funnel:
- Focus on building trust and aligning expectations.
- Engage in word-of-mouth marketing and encourage positive sharing.
Therefore, we highly recommend the book “This is Marketing” to anyone who really wants to learn more about marketing.
I’m gone to tell my little brother, that he should also pay a visit this website on regular basis to take updated from newest reports.
Keeping up with the latest news is a smart move. Your little brother will thank you for the advice.