10 Immutable Laws of Marketing
If you want to be in business you have to know, how to market yourself, and you have to know how to do it well. A lot of people think that building good products is all that matters. But, building a good product is only the beginning. A lot of companies struggle because they cannot market their products and services to the right audience.
Companies like Apple, Nike, Coca-Cola have achieved incredible success due to their marketing strategies. With effective marketing, you can anchor your product in your customer’s mind and then turn them into loyal fans. Success in business is really understanding people psychology and winning them through various ways.
Here we are going to discuss some laws of marketing which can help your business position your products and services much more potently.
1. Law of Leadership
Being a Leader in the market can make your brand get noticed and win customers. When you are the first company in the market, you get to set the rules of the game. It is far better than having to play by someone else’s rule. Most of us know the first man on the moon but no one remembers the second.
You have to either be the first or the best. Position your brand in a way where you can be a leader in your category at least in some niche areas. When you can position your brand in a unique way, you can build leadership and following for your company.
2. Law of category
It’s very hard to get leadership position where competition already exists, it’s better to create a product in new category, than trying to play the catch up game. Like if you cannot make a new video camera than try to make a sport camera like GoPro did, if you can’t be the first photo-sharing app than be the first photo sharing app where you can have amazing experience like Instagram. Find out your USP and which category you can dominate.
3. Law of Mind
No one remembers the first search engine, everyone knows Google. Sometimes it’s not possible to be the first in the market, but you can still be the first in the consumer’s mind. It’s possible with great messaging and quality products. This the key and this can allow you to overcome some of your flaws.
Winning businesses are able to win the hearts and minds of their customers before anyone else does. They do it through repeated advertising, quality solutions and taking care of their customers.
4. Law of Perception
Marketing is not about products but about perception, reality doesn’t exist. What we called reality is the perception of reality that we create in our minds. This is the reason why Apple is so successful and iconic. It’s the perception built around their products that offer them an unprecedented positioning.
Marketing is the way you change the perception of the consumers about your brand. How you deliver your message goes a long way in creating your positioning. If you think that your product is good enough and you are able to convince your customer that it’s best, than people are definitely going to buy.
5. Law of Focus
Marketing requires establishing a deep connect with the prospects. As a brand, you have to build an association of your brand with the consumer. For e.g. when you think of search, you think of Google. Room sharing is snyonymous with AirBnB. Your messaging and focusing on the right keywords can make a big difference to your chances. Successful brands are able to create a unique messaging and phrase word which connects them to their consumers.
6. Law of Failures
It’s not possible to work out a successful strategy for your products and success in one go. Quite often the difference between failures and success is persistence. Great brands know how to fail, take learnings and iterate towards building successful strategies for launching their products.
Risks, failures and experimentation are crucial for getting the combination right. The best companies are able to execute better because they take learnings and improvise their strategy according to the market feedback.
7. Law of Perspective
Marketing is a long term game. No great brand is built overnight. It takes time for people to connect with brands. Constant, consistent and deliberate messaging can help companies to build the right connect with their prospects.
The best brands are able to take a long-term view of things to build their company. They avoid short term measures that can have detrimental long-term impact on the company.
8. Law of Opposite
The market has enough place to accommodate different players. You dont have to be the leader all the time for building a winning business, as long as you’re different, you can still create your space. Coca-Cola is the market leader in the FMCG consumer space, but Pepsi has been able to establish itself as a strong brand too.
Most markets reward players when they play to their strengths instead of simply copying their competitors. A brand must stay true to its purpose and communicate authenticity to its customers.
9. Law of Sacrifice
Everything has a price tag. No brand is every built without sacrifice. You have to know everything inside out in your market. You need to know what the customer needs are, how your product will serve them, the tagline of your product, the market demands & constant changes to adapt. Nothing worth having is served on a platter. Be ready to pay the price to build something big.
10. Law of predictability
How will you respond to change and an unpredictable future. You never know what will be thrown at you. Unless you have deep knowledge of your industry, your positioning and strategy, things will be difficult. The best brands are built around strong strategies and execution. They know how to communicate and win clients, because they understand what they are doing.