“Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.”
This quote by author and marketing strategies Seth Godin can reason for many failed businesses, which go beyond their limits to find customers for their offerings. Instead, they should be looking after the needs of people because when people find something, they could sense their needs being fulfilled with that will save precious time and efforts of the marketers. To be successful in marketing, a good market has to be aware of what drives people to buy something. It is needed first, then utility, followed by what they can afford.
A content marketer has to be aware of many strategies which result in a top position in the market. But that happens when you are aware of all the happenings of the market.
There are so many insights provided by Seth Godin which will further be broken down in the article.
Here an article on why we should be Targeting content market: https://youtu.be/FbDqASFyJ_U?si=xxSGBq-yrJRRBO0f
About Seth Godin and what makes us tackle his insights
Upon graduating from Stanford University with a degree in MBA, he began with a book packaging business in his studio apartment in New York. After working on which several years, he tried his hands on various other businesses over the time, a few of which are:
Yoyodyne (1995)-
yoyodyne is an interactive marketing agency, specializing in online promotions and gathering information of consumers and their preferences by engaging consumers in interactive games. Information was later used to do targeted marketing campaigns. The company was later acquired by Yahoo in 1998.
Squidoo (2005)-
It was a platform where people could share thoughts with others using text, images, videos etc. inform of an article. People recommend and share their views on something online with squidal while earning money to affiliate marketing and Advertising on those articles. This company was later acquired by Hubpages in 2014
altMBA (2015)-
altMBA is an online workshop. This program focused on helping the participants to learn various qualities which are useful for solving Real world practical problems. Those qualities involved leadership, communication, marketing, entrepreneurship and innovation. The aim was to help participants with skills such as decision making, critical thinking, and problem solving so that they could make an impact in the world.
Strategies we should learn from such Gardens for content marketing.
- Tell captivating stories to the audience- Seth Godin says you should tell such compelling stories that your audience can resonate with and voice your brand out to them. By doing so the company can build an emotional connection with potential customers, which not only helps to attract them but keep them with you permanently as you create a loyal customer base. When you have gained the trust of your audience you can drive them for a call of action.
- Create content that sparks interest- understand your audience to create remarkable content that sparks interest of people who come across it and make them go for your offering. You should educate, inspire and entertain The Reader with your content. Your content should not just be all about how great you are, or how exceptional your brand is. You should not sound like you are attracting them for your benefit instead you should make them believe how, by being a user of your service or your product would benefit them, then actually prove it.
- Personalize your content- To have a higher rate of influence, you must know who your target audience is and then personalize and modify your content according to them. It begins with a bit of relatedness and a lot of clarity. As a content marketer you should First Target the group of people whom you believe will be benefited and then, being aware of their problem, deliver a solution to them. In content marketing one size can never fit all. You should not try to catch the attention of anyone who may come across your content rather than you should know who might be having a certain problem and then provide a solution.
- Have an original thinking- Seth Godin emphasizes loudly on authenticity. Readers are looking for originality. Deliver it. Seth says, “Someone is authentic when their actions are in alignment with what they promise.” you, when trying to create a content, be with a view in mind to provide what you promised, original. That shall not only make The Reader believe you but also have faith in you. So you devote yourself to creating original and authentic content.
- Regarding marketing as an investment- A lot of us, with heavy hearts, put a lot of money on marketing, thinking that we are spending a huge part of our earnings on it. But that is where we do it wrong. Marketing is not an expense. It has never been. It will never be. Instead, it is an investment which if done correctly comes back to us more than we put into it, in the form of recognition, enhanced demand, and increased conversion rates, which results in profit at last.
- Do your homework- Do your market research. Know what people want. Know what satisfies them, what makes them opt for a thing among numerous options out there, what triggers them, what helps them, what puts them in difficulty, what wastes their time, what saves their time…in short know your customers like you know about your favorite fiction hero, or favorite actress. Know your potential customers’ habits that surely lands you in a better position than others if your efforts outsmart other content marketers out there.
Conclusion
Seth Godin is not an inspirational speaker in the field of marketing or world-renowned author for nothing. He has honed his skills as a marketing strategist over many decades to be at this spot. His first advice is to connect people with your brand emotionally by telling them a compelling story that they can resonate with. Then he advises the marketers to stay true to their words and deliver what they actually promised to offer. He also says to be authentic and be original. Do not be all about self, be about people, be about your audience. Do not go after them selling your brand. Instead listen to them innovate and generate what may solve their problems. This way they come and stay with you.