An Engineer’s Guide into the World of Digital Marketing
I’ve heard, “If you throw a stone at a busy road in India, it will either hit a dog or an engineer.” This article is dedicated to all the engineers in India.
If you haven’t already guessed, yes, I’m an engineer too.
In case you’re not an engineer, but a curious person wanting to know about Digital Marketing, you too can give this a read.
Just as in a typical classroom, where my professor would start a class with a question, paying tribute, I will do so too.
What is Digital Marketing?
Well, it’s pretty simple.
Digital + Marketing = Digital Marketing
Ah, see what I did there. I brought in equations.
We all know what a market is — a place where goods are bought & sold. At a market, the act of advertising or selling the product in the best possible way is marketing. Digital is the medium used to communicate. The tools may have changed but the core fundamentals of marketing remain constant.
If I ask marketers why they chose marketing, the most likely answer is “Marketing offers a very creative & innovative career.”
I’d like to disagree.
Marketing is based on science & not creativity. Let me explain.
When working on a project, you would search for problems & work on solving them. Similarly, while developing any product, we look at pain points. Market research helps in understanding gaps, to develop a product or service as a solution that could address the pain point. And marketing tells the story of the product. It helps establish a connection with the customer that makes them want to buy the product.
The science is in understanding what the customer wants & how to communicate with them.
“ The aim of marketing is to know & understand the customer so well, the product or service fits them and sells itself. The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. ” — Peter Drucker
Good Marketing is all about good communication.
Sending the right message, to the right person, at the right time using the right medium.
Writing is a great way to improve communication skills.
“ Just as a lion is the product of all the zebras it has eaten, a writer is the product of all the books he or she has read. ” — Anonymous
Medium. *Did I say Medium?*
Let’s take a step back, and dive into understanding the relationship between Traditional Marketing & Digital Marketing.
The advertisements you would have seen on television, in newspapers, magazines, or heard on the radio encompasses traditional marketing. Digital marketing uses digital media such as websites & social media.
While traditional marketing reaches almost everybody at a relatively lower cost, the spending power they usually hold is lower too. Digital marketing targets people with spending power, who also do most tasks such as information gathering, buying, etc. through the Internet.
if lower_end_product( ) :
traditional_marketing( )
elif higher_end_product( ) :
digital_marketing( )
else :
need_a_product_to_market( )If the product being marketed is a lower-end product, the traditional method of marketing is ideal. Else digital marketing should be used to sell to specific target audiences.
Okay now enough said.
You might be wondering so how exactly do I get started?
Algorithm :
Step 1: START
Invest your time & brainpower in learning marketing. Marketing skills have a long shelf life. It is deep-rooted in human psychology & the understanding of the market.
Some terms & techniques you should know are Website Designing & Hosting, Content Marketing, SEO, Copywriting, Analytics, Google & Facebook Ads, Social Media Management, and many more.
Did you expect me to explain each of them? Don’t be lazy. Just Google it.
But I will explain the 4 P’s of Marketing — The Marketing Mix *See I’m nice*
Product — It is the product or service you offer on sale. Is your product worth buying?
Price — How much you charge for your product or service. Is it priced appropriately? Will your target audience purchase it at this price? Does it fare well against competitors?
Place — The location where you sell your product. Sell where your audience is.
Promotion — Make your audience aware of your product. You can only buy what you see.
Step 2: Break down your goals, pick a niche & develop a product around it. Go as deep as possible rather than going wide.
For example, if you choose to work on a product or service in the fitness space, creating content without having a specific target audience in mind would lead to your content getting lost in an ocean of fitness content. Picking a niche would mean creating fitness content specifically for children, or the elderly.
As a consumer what attracts you the most. Affordability, Quality, Uniqueness?
Every strong brand has unique aspects that set them apart from other brands.
To build a strong brand, either be #1 in your niche or be the only one. Deciding where to compete is half your success.
Step 3: The CATT Marketing Funnel
This is the golden equation to travel far on your path as a Digital Marketer. Take notes!
Wealth = n ^ CATT
It’s not a fancy way of saying cats bring good luck.
n stands for the niche you select. Your success & wealth depends on the niche you choose.
Imagine a three-set Venn diagram.
X = { Your Talents }
Y = { The Market }
Z = { Your Passion }
n = X ∩ Y ∩ Z
Your niche should be an amalgamation of your talents, your passion & the market.
C — It is the content that you create and share in the form of blogs, posts, videos, podcasts, live webinars, and so on. Your content attracts people from your niche.
A — Getting attention. Don’t we all love some attention! SEO, social media, paid ads & referrals drive the attention of your targeted audience towards your content.
T — it’s all about the trust you build with your followers.
T — it stands for transactions. Convert your audience into lifelong customers using natural sales methods.
If you are entering a competitive market, work on a unique angle. Once you have saturated a niche you can move onto another one.
Step n: NEVER STOP
Earlier, you might have wondered how do I build trust with my customers? It goes hand in hand with building a personal brand.
Learn a new skill. Implement it in the real world to develop an understanding (work). Write about what you have learned. It will not only help you understand better but also you will start building your personal brand. Eventually, do some consulting. Start mentoring & teaching other people. It will help scale your understanding to a whole new level. When you’re ready, be the boss. Establish your startup.
“ The best known will always beat the best. ” — Deepak Kanakaraju
The power of personal branding is people will reach out to you only when they know you are the best. People want to hear from other people, not brands. Anyone with a large following can bank on it by marketing other brands.
Digital Marketing has several tactics. What is the best way to market?
Integrated Digital Marketing!
The best way to market is by integrating it. *cries*
Individually they’re important but together they’re powerful.
A lot of the major brands out in the world are Marketing companies. Nike, Hermes, Rolex, and several more.
Have you ever seen a Lamborghini advertisement on television? You will see them at car shows, in magazines, or on social media. A company spokesperson or fan once said, “We don’t do commercials because our target audience isn’t sitting around watching television.” But that itself is a form of advertising.
Remember, the ultimate goal of marketing is not to just make a sale or two. Maintaining a strong relationship with your customers is imperative.
If you look at your customer as a cash cow, you won’t deliver. Always give more than what the customer expects. Word of mouth marketing has always been & will always be the best channel of marketing. Over time, your customers will market your brands. They will be the ambassadors.
If you’ve made it this far, I’d like to congratulate you! You have already taken the first step into the world of Digital Marketing.
I’m done.
No, wait. Did I tell you I’m Indian too?
My parents would smack me if I let you leave empty-handed. Here are some resources to get you going.
DMAT (Includes free copy of eMarketing: The essential guide to marketing in a digital world)
Coursera (Audit course — if you just want to learn)
Books:
Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout
This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See by Seth Godin
The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis
Copyright-free images:
Google Image Search (Labeled for Non-commercial reuse)
P.S. This is my first article on Medium. I would love to hear your opinion! Please voice it in the comments section. ❤
