What if marketing were a movie?
A and Z, two childhood friends, are talking about their interests. While A is interested in the world of films, Z is interested in marketing, and is also trying to learn digital marketing online with the Digital Deepak Internship Program. Here’s the conversation they’re having:
A: Z, did you watch that recent film? Wasn’t it a treat to watch? The cinematography was so well done.
Z: No A, I haven’t gotten a chance to watch it yet. Have been busy with my internship program. Remember, I’d told you? Digital Marketing?
A: Oh yeah, I remember. You and your craze for marketing. Don’t you find it boring, Z? I for one don’t even understand the M of Marketing.
Z: A, it’s not boring at all. In fact, it is really interesting, and in today’s world, a great skill to learn if you want to succeed. Don’t you think so?
A: Well, it may be so, but like I said, I don’t understand the M of it.
Z: Well, how about I try to explain it to you as if it were a movie? Would that interest you?
A: Whoa, buddy! Can you do that?
Z: Of course, here we go…
MARKETING: A SUCCESSFUL DIRECTOR
What is marketing? Think of it as a successful director who has been around for decades, and is quite well known. Similarly, marketing has been around as long as one can remember. Just like the director is the one who shoulders the responsibility of putting the words from the script onto the screen, marketing is about sending the right message to the right person at the right time. Many a times, marketing often starts before the creation of the product, because it helps understand customers’ needs, thereby helping develop a product that is not only great, but actually what customers want.
Just like a successful director, marketing when done right can build a brand in a way that it creates a place for itself in the minds of the customers. Just the way people like a director because of the kind of movies he/she makes, marketing is also about developing trust to keep existing customers happy. Simply put my friend, marketing is a means to an end.
TRADITIONAL MARKETING: THE VETERAN ACTOR
A, think of traditional marketing as a veteran actor — it has been around for a long time, is quite experienced, and people from the older generation trust it. Can you picture it that way? Great. So see, when we talk about Traditional Marketing, what we refer to is marketing methods that did not include the use of internet. Just like a veteran actor, traditional marketing had its own methods, and some of these are:
· TV and radio commercials
· Hoardings on billboards
· Newspaper and magazine ads
· Directly mailed postcards and coupons
Today, with the emergence of digital marketing, some may deem traditional methods to be irrelevant; much like how some people think that veteran actors are irrelevant because of the younger talent entering the industry. However, just like veteran actors, many tactics and methods of traditional marketing are valued even today.
DIGITAL MARKETING: THE NEW DIVA
In an industry filled with experienced personnel, think of Digital Marketing as a fresh kid on the block! This diva is a young entrant in the industry, and has wowed younger audiences. Similarly, digital marketing is also a relatively young entrant in the world of marketing, has its own new methods and addresses a different kind of audience.
Just like the new star, Digital Marketing is internet savvy! Digital Marketing refers to all the marketing efforts that are used to influence and connect with customers online. You, my friend know, how the internet has changed the world compared to what it was ten years ago. These days, more and more people use the internet, connect with businesses online and even make purchases online. In this scenario, having an online presence and marketing online has become a big deal these days. Much like the new age diva, Digital Marketing has many new ways of working, such as:
· Email Marketing
· Social Media Marketing
· Search Engine Optimization
· Paid Advertising
· Content Marketing
· Affiliate Marketing
As is evident from the list above, there are several ways to market a business online, but when you understand what works best for a particular brand / business, that’s when it can give the best results.
CATT MARKETING FUNNEL: THE SCRIPT
They say, that a movie’s script is the most important component of making a film. If the script is strong, the movie will also turn out good. Similarly, the CATT marketing funnel is an important component of understanding marketing, and making the most out of your marketing efforts! The CATT framework includes:
Content — Create useful content that attracts your audience from your niche
Attention — Drive traffic to your content using various methods of digital marketing
Trust — Build trust with your audience
Transaction — Convert leads into customers
According to Digital Deepak, wealth = n ^ CATT
Where n stands for the niche you select.
How simple yet insightful is it that your wealth and success truly depends on the niche you choose and the CATT framework?
INTEGRATED DIGITAL MARKETING: PRODUCTION TEAM
In any film set, the production team is the one that brings every team together to make sure everything works in tandem. In a similar manner, integrated digital marketing is all about unifying all digital marketing tactics to create a strong framework to approach, connect with and convert customers.
PERSONAL BRANDING: PUBLICITY
A film needs publicity so that more people know about it, develop interest and thus become consumers of it by watching it. Personal branding also roughly works on the same lines. Simply put, personal branding is promoting oneself as an authority in a niche. Now you’d think, how is this important in digital marketing?
Well, let me tell you, my friend. People want to communicate with people, not brands. By marketing oneself as a brand, a person can become a brand ambassador for the company they run. There’s a MassTrust blueprint on which one can begin their Personal Branding. Here are the steps:
· Learn a skill that’s unique to you
· Work in that field to implement your learnings and gain experience
· Blog and create content based on your learnings and experiences
· Consult and share your expertise with others
· Mentor those who want to gain knowledge in the same field as you
· Establish a startup to provide products / services with all the understanding you’ve gained by following the above steps
Z: So A, what do you think of that? Were you able to understand marketing better now?
A: Yes buddy! I loved how you explained it using film analogy. Made me understand it way better than I would have otherwise.
So, that was what marketing is, explained through the lens of film analogies. I hope you had fun reading it. Share your thoughts with me in the comments below 😊
