Why Digital Marketing is Just Relationship-Building
A Zero Jargon Guide for Folks New to Digital (And How to Grasp Things Like “Chatbots”, “Marketing Automation”, and more)
Digital marketing overwhelms you with jargon: CTR%, CVR%, EPC, ROAS, and more.
It also doesn’t help that agencies and consultants just add more jargon to mix: “Impression Share”, “Relevance Score”, “Social Proof”, and more.
I know it’s ridiculous. But it doesn’t mean you have to dive deep into it.
Instead, this article keeps it simple by mapping digital marketing with something you already know: building relationships.
What is marketing anyway but building relationships with people?
In the 5-part framework that I’ll teach you, I’ll give you a step-by-step journey on the role of digital marketing & its stages. And I’ll explain it in the context of relationships.
Let’s start with the first stage.
Stage 1: Awareness (Or How to Let People Know You Exist)
The first stage is awareness.
While you may like yourself or your product / service, it doesn’t matter if people don’t know you. You need to get yourself out there.
There are two ways to start awareness: outbound marketing and inbound marketing.
Let’s look at outbound first.
Awareness via Outbound Marketing
Outbound marketing is when you’re actively looking for someone.
Say, you like to read fiction. And you want someone who shares that interest in fiction.
The first thing that you need to do is to find out where people like that hang out. Examples include book fairs or reading groups.
So what you’re trying to do here is that you first:
- Identify your market
- Figure out where your market likes
In digital marketing, this means the exact same thing.
You can use Facebook Advertising to find their interests. Using that same example, if you were planning to sell a fiction book, you’d want to target people who liked popular fiction books.
You can also use Linkedin to find & join groups related to writing or reading.
And you can use Google Ads to place yourself on search engine terms that fiction readers like to use (like “best fiction for 2019”).
Awareness with Inbound Marketing
The second type is Inbound Marketing. It’s the inverse of outbound marketing, when you’re not really looking for someone.
Instead, they found you.
One example is when you’re organizing a fiction writing workshop. Or you’re holding a fiction talk in a local meetup. You’re just doing your thing until you bumped into a person who seems to be a good fit.
Same goes for marketing.
On your website, you write short stories to build an audience. Or you share snippets of your upcoming novel to generate some interest.
Over time, more and more people drop by to your website. And just as you realize it, you now have thousands of interested people on your website’s email list.
Unlike outbound, where you go to them. In inbound, you show & create value and people come to you.
Stage 2: Acquisition (Or Getting to the First Date)
In the last stage, you’ve created awareness through that fair or workshop.
The next step is to trade contact details.
Of course, you can’t just blurt it out on your first sentence.
Instead, you’ll need to show that you’re worth sharing details for first.
You could, for instance, invite the person to a date at a museum. Or invite them to go to your next workshop.
The rule here is that you give some value for their contact.
In marketing, “value for their contact” means a form on the website that offers things like a free ebook, a free webinar, or a free newsletter subscription.
It’s those pop-ups that you see on websites all the time.
Stage 3: Activation (Or Checking if You’re a Match)
So you got the contact. The next step then is to ensure that you give a great first experience.
Just because you have credentials doesn’t mean you can seal the deal. You need to show you’re fun in the first place.
During the date, be yourself, crack jokes, share your passion, and have fun.
All dates won’t work out for you since not all people are like you.
But if you’re yourself, then the right person will want to hang out with you more.
In marketing, that means people click-through in your newsletter, people stay through until the end of the webinar, and people want more of your content.
But many will fall off, unsubscribe from your newsletter, or even think your content is dumb.
That’s fine, because there are many markets. And not all are right for your business.
Stage 4: Retention (Following Through)
Trust is built in the succeeding dates. When everything feels right on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th date, or more, then it starts feeling right for you and you know that you’re with a person you’d enjoy spending your time with.
But of course, you’ll need to be consistent and you’ll need to follow through. If you don’t contact & invite the person, why would you expect a second date?
In marketing, you’d send email broadcasts, chatbot messages, marketing automation systems, and SMS reminders.
Keep following through to get mutual value: your business gets a potential sale, and the prospect gets value & ROI from your help.
Stage 5: Revenue (Closing the Deal)
Finally, you can close the deal. Great first experience. The feeling of trust & fun never wavered, and you now plan to get into a long-term relationship.
In business, you start signing deals. Maybe it’s a few purchases on your ecommerce site, a subscription to your SaaS or studio, or a long-term B2B contract deal.
Either way, you’ve earned the deal. And the counterpart feels excited to work with you.
This Tool Will Help You Analyze All Marketing Material Out There
When you think of every marketing material as a part of a relationship-building process, you get to see how your competition or how a brand tries to create a sale.
You saw a dramatic TV ad? You now know it’s an awareness generation campaign. They want buzz to get attention in a crowded market.
You saw a Facebook Ad about a free ebook? You now know it’s an acquisition campaign. They’re trying to get your contact details.
Amazing 50-page free guide? They’re marking sure that you feel like they know what they’re doing.
Email newsletters? Chatbot followups? You know they’re building you up & retaining you. Further building trust.
Transaction done? There’s belief that there’s lasting value for both parties.
You can Now Think Strategically About Marketing
From now on, you can think through marketing with an expert marketer’s lens.
As an exercise, assess and classify any marketing material you see, and put it in the context of the framework.
If you like the marketing asset, take a photo of it or take a screenshot and save it when you need ideas for a specific marketing campaign.
Good luck!
