Total Training Club

Everybody wants to be the best, the best there ever was and only few succeed. The reason – Only few dare to be different.

The above saying applies directly to marketers as well. Every one of us wants to be the best, the best to create a message that will compel others to buy our products or services. Sometimes we fail and sometimes we succeed. If you look at it with an open mind and a broader approach everyone is marketing something everyday whether or not marketing is their profession. While buying grocery we might tell our spouse a certain brand of wine is expensive than the other, we are unknowingly marketing someone else’s product. The point is that whether knowingly or unknowingly we are always promoting something.

But as a marketing professional you have got to sell something and this time you are doing it knowingly either for the check or for the brand image. Marketing is not hard, what is hard is to set yourself from the crowd. Each day we are bombarded with thousands of ads and even though we see ourselves as marketers we are no different than our own consumers. We ignore some ads and some catch our attention and compel us to buy. Here are 5 ways to set yourself apart from the rest of the crowd and become better at what we do which in this case is marketing,

1. Be creative : This is a no brainer. If you want to sell beer simply saying “Here is a new brand of beer that will get you drunk” might not be enough. Why? Because there is nothing creative about it. The message says what every other brand of beer says. I can’t stress the effectiveness of creativity in marketing. You know it, I know it but most of the times we fail to apply it. Marketing is nothing but a creative art, an art of generating ideas based upon what the current trend is and your demographic.
2. Speak their language not yours :  One thing that most marketers forget is to speak their target audience’s language. Who are you marketing to? Children? Men? Woman? A certain age group? Although every marketing department knows the answer to this they fail to apply this to their message. A child is more likely to respond to a message that caters to the way he/she understands. If you are promoting your product and services to an age group that is between 18-25, research the way they talk and do things and build your marketing message around them.
3. Don’t be a preacher : This might sound a little different than what you are used to hearing. Do not tell your potential customers what they need to do. They can make their own purchasing decision, thank you very much. The “Buy Me” marketing approach doesn’t work. Don’t be a preacher and tell your customers they “need” to purchase your product. Instead give them reasons as to why your product or service might be helpful….the “must” marketing strategy usually forces people and people hate to be forced. Let them choose, you guide them where they should go rather than telling them.
4. Lose the “me” and give them the “you” : Of course when you promote a product or service you have got to tell why your product is better but try not to be self centered. Lose the “me” and give them the reason why your product and service is there initially. Let the customers know why they matter and the reason why your product/service exists. It exists for a reason and the reason is because you have a target market – let your target market know why they are important rather than always talking why you are important to them. Make them feel special and they will in turn return the favor.
5. Take the feedback and apply it : There is a reason the saying “Failure is the key to success” seems to work for the most. If every marketing campaign a marketing department rolled out did well, it certainly would halt any chances of learning anything new. There are going to be a few times when your marketing campaign will go down the crap shooter. Take that one opportunity to learn what went wrong and suit your next marketing campaign according to the feedback you got from you failure. Failure truly can be the best “idea generation” source ever, so next time you fail do not frown. The next one you roll out will be good and then you can thank to the one that failed.

Hope you enjoyed these points. Let us know what you think and share some of your own tips.

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