Why is it that some entrepreneurs are so much more successful than others? Is their product? Maybe they have a huge marketing budget? All of these things matter to some degree, but ultimately, it’s a mindset thing.
What’s a Marketing Mindset
A marketing mindset is all about being creative and understanding your customer. It’s about seeing the world through your customer’s eyes and understanding what they want, even before they know it themselves. It’s about being proactive instead of reactive, and always looking for new opportunities to market your product or service.
But, is there a way to learn and incorporate a marketing mindset in your business? Of course there is. Here’s how.
1. Start with your strengths.
Your business is a reflection of you! If you want your marketing to be successful, it has to come from the heart — your heart. You brand and your marketing message has to have your authentic voice.
It’s tempting to just do what the experts tell you to do. But hear this, just because someone says that video marketing is trending and they are doing these highly produced videos — doesn’t mean that you have to. If you like video — do video. If you don’t like video, don’t make video the center of your marketing plan.
So, the marketing mindset you have to adopt is to embrace your strength — and make your marketing match your strength.
Whether your strength is organizing content or creating a killer marketing campaign, the most strategic way to market yourself starts with honing your skills and playing on your strengths.
2. Build on what works and find other ways to improve.
Here are some ideas to help you go from good to great with your marketing mindset:
- Determine what’s working for you and your business. Do you have an easy-to-remember company name? Did you find a niche that nobody else is filling, or do your products stand out because of their high quality or special features? Once you’ve pinpointed your business’s strengths, ask yourself how you can leverage those strengths to take advantage of new opportunities.
- Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and reach out directly to customers who have given feedback about your product or service. Ask them what they like and don’t like; then explain how you’re addressing their concerns and improving on the positive attributes they mentioned. Not only does this build rapport with the customer, it gives others reading those comments more confidence in buying from you in the future.
These two elements may seem like they are about your business, but they are about your marketing mindset. It’s a confidence thing. It’s all about embracing yourself, your business, and what you stand for. Instead of having your personality match your campaign, have your campaign match your brand personality.
3. Do a regular review of your marketing efforts.
You should do a review of your marketing efforts at least once a month. Reviewing your results will help you see what you did right and what you could have done better. You want to keep the good things and stop doing the things that were not working.
It is important to look at your analytics, like how many visitors looked at your website, or how many people came into your store after seeing an ad for it in social media.
It’s a good idea to look at your sales numbers from every source during the review period. If you had more sales from one channel than another, maybe it was because of the advertising you did on that channel.
It is also important to follow up with customers after they make a purchase so you can get feedback about their experience with your company. How was their interaction with customer service? Was there anything about the product or service that could be improved to make their experience better?
These all sound like tasks, the marketing mindset isn’t in WHAT you do, it’s HOW you do it — who you are being as you do each of these tasks.
4. Focus on what you can control and learn about what you can’t.
The first is to focus on what you can control, and the second is to learn about what you can’t.
For example, let’s say you’re starting a business in a new market and don’t know much about your customers. You might be tempted to feel hopeless if you don’t know who they are, or where they are online—but this would be like a surfer feeling hopeless when they’re faced with waves too big for them to ride.
Instead of giving up, the smart thing to do is use the resources that are right in front of you (and available today) to learn more about the people who could be your customers tomorrow. This might mean talking to people who have already run businesses in your industry, reading books by experts in your field, taking courses, or doing research online. It could also mean joining meetup groups or other communities where fellow entrepreneurs gather together to support one another and share insights.
As time goes on and you spend time gathering data through these resources, this will help inform the decisions that will ultimately make up your marketing strategy later on.
If it helps clarify things for you, consider doing a SWOT analysis—think of it as trying on lots of different hats and seeing which ones fit best!
5. Recognize your customer’s needs, wants and desires.
You probably hear the term “customer needs” a lot. It’s an important part of marketing, after all—you want to understand what the customer needs and then provide it in a way that meets their expectations. For example, if your customer is looking for a thing to hang things from, you might sell them coat hangers.
But what about their wants and desires? These often go beyond simple need fulfillment (which is why customers will pay more for them). Your customer might need a coat rack because they’re having trouble hanging up their clothes—but do they want one that’s made out of wood or metal? Perhaps they have some beautiful clothes that would look better on hangers instead of just lying around their closet—what sort of hanger would best complement those clothes? You could also consider the kind of look they might be going for, as well as whether there are any other special features or aspects worth focusing on.
If you really want to get ahead in your market, you’ll need to start thinking about these things too. The more deeply you can understand your customer’s needs, wants and desires—and find ways to meet them—the more likely it is that you’ll be able to satisfy them in the long run.
6. Focus on improving one thing at a time.
The biggest marketing mindset mistake so many business owners make is trying to blow the roof off of every goal all at once. This is a recipe for failure. Instead, choose ONE goal or objective that you want to focus on and focus on that.
One of the most successful marketers I know says “Stay in the step you’re in.” This is the best advice I’ve heard in years. Pick the step you’re in, get it done, and get it done right. This won’t be the first marketing campaign that you’re doing and it won’t be the last. Pick a goal to achieve, and do your best to achieve it.
7. Always be learning.
It’s an ever-changing world. Because marketing is such a fast-paced industry, trends and technologies are constantly changing. That means you always have room to grow. There’s always something new to learn about and explore, so never stop doing it!
Learning Resources for marketers: Digital Marketer
There’s no such thing as passive marketing. Learn how to be proactive instead.
This article’s main purpose is to teach you how to be more proactive in your marketing. The key takeaway is the importance of being proactive. If you’re reactive, you’ll only react when opportunities present themselves. But if you’re proactive, your business will thrive because of your anticipation and action.