Let’s start by making a bold statement.
Marketing makes and keeps you relevant. It keeps you in existence, ignore this, and you will soon cease to exist.
History tells us all too well that poor marketing and poor delivery can be the doom of all established brands. This can be said for small businesses, corporate businesses, and, dare we say, Government. Governments have fallen from power through poor delivery and often through poor messaging to their customers, the voters. The reverse is then equally valid. Power is gained on the back of a great marketing campaign.
Marketing is about delivering the message you want and attracting the attention you desire. Delivery is a separate entity, not to be confused with marketing, although they need to exist side by side to be successful.
As a new start-up brand, you do not exist to the consumer. You are non-existent.
How do you exist and become relevant?
The answer is to tell the public you are here. You take your product and service to the market. The same can be said for an existing brand or product. You need to keep telling the consumer that you still exist and are relevant, every day.
When the budget tightens up, marketing and advertising are often the first things to go. But really, it should be the last thing to go. Advertising your product should be the backbone of your business.
Now to many people, marketing means two things – advertising and selling.
But instead, take a step back and take a moment to look at the bigger picture. Take the time to thoughtfully analyze what you offer and where your business is in relation to your competition, your customers, and societal and regional trends and conditions.
You might ask how to know if marketing truly works? Stop advertising your brand for even a short time and watch how it will fall to the wayside. Without the exposure that marketing offers, without people seeing your brand, and hearing about the latest updates, it’s as if it never existed at all.
Businesses wouldn’t be able to gain the customer support needed to continue to function. It may seem like an easy option to forgo, but things are likely to spiral without your customers seeing your product.
Know Your Customers
Looking at statistics on social media, views per blog, and click-throughs in emails are some of the ways to monitor if marketing works. But at the end of the day, nothing will sell if you don’t market yourself and your product.
Now look, we’re not talking about the run-of-the-mill advertising. We’re referring to highly effective marketing. It can be the make-or-break factor for small businesses. It’s nearly impossible for your business to be successful without good marketing and sales techniques; it’s what puts money in the bank.
Marketing isn’t just about letting people know you have a product or service. It’s about knowing your customers, understanding their desires and needs, and communicating exactly why they need what you can offer. And, once you have them locked in, you reach out to them with that message. To show your customers that what you offer is the solution to their problems.
Another angle that your marketing team will take is to analyze the environment—being aware of your competition and the cultural trends to assess your business’s position in the market. Find out what the people enjoy and give it to them.
A World Without Marketing
Imagine a world where marketing went away altogether. Without marketing, companies would have to perform based solely on the merits of their products and services. If they loved the product and had a good experience, they would likely be repeat customers and recommend it to their friends and family.
If the product or service weren’t up to scratch, they would take their business elsewhere. This means that companies that didn’t offer top-quality would likely go out of business faster because they wouldn’t benefit from word of mouth from satisfied customers. Which in itself is both good and bad. Smaller companies would likely never be given a chance to thrive under the already grown businesses that would run the market. But the businesses that tend to offer low-quality items would fall away due to the standard of their product or service, meaning there would only be well-priced, good quality items on offer.
Marketing Is Here To Stay
Marketing isn’t about to be eliminated any time soon. But take a moment to think if your company would survive without marketing.
For many companies, a flashy and creative marketing campaign gets the customers’ attention enough that they’re likely to try the product at least once – even if the product or experience may be average.
But marketing isn’t about tricking people into buying your product or service. It’s about offering an alternative to the already well-established brands, letting people know that there is more out there than only the few top brands.
So the question is, are your products and services strong enough to stand on their own?
Even the biggest companies in the world still use marketing and advertising to showcase what they offer. Without marketing, companies are more vulnerable and can be forced to go back to the basics, which can be a good starting point to ensure your products and services align with what customers want. But it is rarely enough to survive in the market today.
Find a marketing team that fits you and aligns with your goals. They’ll help you every step of the way to ensure your products and services are shown the light they deserve.
