Have you ever sensed the need of running your business engine in a new way under the current market scenario?

Then, you must be reading through the entire article to get empowered to take action and grow your business.

The current competitive market scenario has made the organizations shift the focus from “making money” to “making difference” for their long-term sustainability. To be sustainable in the market and to cover a long journey of growth, any business concept or a business model has to run with the following three important components:

1. Vehicle         –        Product or Service
2. Engine          –        Marketing system
3. Fuel              –         Traffic (Website visitors)

While we understand the chemistry of the above three components in a business scenario, the power of the marketing system in Digital mode stands superior just like a catalyst in a chemical reaction! Digital Marketing plays a key role in the current era of the Internet that has changed the landscape of business forever.

Before we understand How and who? Let’s connect to the following two basic aspects and then understand the power of digital marketing.

1)     What is marketing and its fundamentals?

Marketing is a management process for identifying, anticipating & stimulating, and satisfying consumer requirements profitably.

1. Marketing is based on science and not on creativity
2. Marketing starts before creating the product.
3. Marketing starts with understanding the customer and customers’ needs that lead to creating a product that fits.
4. Marketing is about sending the right message, to the right person, at the right time.
5. Marketing is not just about selling; It is also about keeping an existing customer delighted by communicating with them so that they remain as a customer for life.
6. The purpose of Marketing is to build a brand and capture a position in the minds of the customers
7. Marketing is a game of perception.

“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself. The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous”

–  Peter Drucker

2)    Understanding Traditional Vs Digital marketing; When to choose what w.r.t Indian market Context?

The major difference between traditional and digital marketing is the medium through which an audience encounters the marketing message. While traditional marketing uses channels like billboards, magazines & newspapers, digital marketing uses digital media like websites, Emails, and social media.

While it is easy to personalize the communication, have direct interaction with customers, target potential customers, and measure marketing efforts (ROI) in the case of Digital Marketing, it is not that easy with traditional marketing.

It is important to note that whenever a product is generic with very wide targeting – TV Ads can reach millions at a low cost. With an average of 4- 5 members per household, TV has a reach of about 900 Mn to One Billion population in India. The reach of Digital Marketing is nowhere close to the TV (Source: Wikipedia).

However, Digital Marketing stands as the best medium when you are required to reach the fluent English-speaking population in India with spending power – Approx. 100 Mn users.

Radio has a reach of 65% of the Indian Population (Source: Financial Express).

Trust, the above information gives you a fair idea as to which medium can be used based on the nature of your product.

Now, let us look at the important 03 aspects as to how the companies can create value for their buyers while they are able to achieve and maintain long-term profitability.

1.  The CATT Marketing Funnel: The new framework – that attracts people, convert into leads and persuade them to purchase (Transact),  I call it as CATT framework and the formula for Wealth = n^CATT

Where,

[n] Niche: Your success and wealth depend on the niche you choose.

[^] denotes power; [C] Content;    [A] Attention;  [T] Trust;           [T] Transact

Now let’s understand how it can be applied to any Business / Niche.

You cannot market each one of your target audiences, as their priority and the need may differ from what you sell. So, it is important to identify those who are genuinely in need of your product.

Let’s call them leads.

When you have such leads, you can subject them to a marketing machine to gain their trust and make them transact. If they don’t become your leads, you cannot send them a sequence of messages designed to increase their trust and persuade them to transact. That’s where the CATT framework helps you to leverage.

a)      Content: This is the first component of the framework and it is the center of all marketing. The content can be a blog post or a social media post or a podcast or a video to capture the attention of your audience. The content works here point to the lead magnet that you offer your audience in exchange for joining your email list or becoming your lead.

b)     Attention: Once you have created the lead magnet, you need to get your audience to notice it or get their attention to it. You can do this either organically or with the help of paid ads. When your audience meets your lead magnet, the magic happens. The magic transforms the visitors of an unknown entity to your leads where you know their name and email id. And that’s where their journey begins.

c)      Trust: Trust is the most crucial element of their entire sales process. People don’t buy from anyone randomly. They buy from people whom they trust. When your audience became your lead, a relationship begins. You need to make this relationship healthy and grow the trust to a level, where they start considering doing business with you. Trust is a very fragile element and it can be built over time in small doses. You can do this by creating a sequence of content that stimulates and builds trust in small doses at a regular interval.

d)     Transact: This is the final stage where the potential buyer transacts with you. But, one needs to be careful that because they trust you doesn’t mean they will buy whatever you are selling. All they care about is themselves. When your audience is ready, present your product or service packaged in an offer which they cannot resist, the next magic happens. Your lead becomes your customer. Isn’t it every organization/marketing & sales professionals want?!

2. Integrated digital Marketing: The CATT framework can be executed in an integrated format of different digital marketing channels. Please look at the self-explanatory image below.

Integrated Digital Market the blend of Email marketing, content marketing, Social Media Marketing, and SEO integrated suitably executes the CATT framework leading to strong customer engagement to wealth creation.

3.  Personal Branding – Mass trust Blueprint: One of the biggest challenges that marketers & organizations have with lead generation is engaging the leads qualitatively. Most marketers create a follow-up sequence with generic messages. Such emails do not have much traction and there is a high probability that the subscribers would usually unsubscribe from your list.

So, what is the secret to the healthy engagement of your leads so that they remain your subscribers?

The secrete to it is growing your personal brand. Personal branding in this context means that you have a strong connection with your audience and let them have a fair idea about who you are.

Conclusion:

The current era of marketing professionals and business organizations must have :

• Analytical capacity to handle an increasing amount of data.
• Creative talent to define products and develop messages for a crowded marketplace.
• Social awareness to navigate in complex global market
• Finally, a strong dose of technological knowledge & ethical sensitivity