What would Rumi do as a Marketing Manager?

What-would-Rumi-do-as-a-Marketing-Manager

Three interesting facts:

  1. 91% of all web pages on the internet never get organic traffic. 
  2. 75% of users never click past the first page.
  3. 95% of search traffic goes to, drumroll, the first page of SERPs.

Fine, marketing is essential. You know that. You need to know how to market your business better. And you’re tired of reading the same old tips in different wordings that don’t offer a unique angle. 

How about we spruce things up? In the next five minutes, learn three things Rumi would do if he was a marketing manager. 

 

1. Plan for year 5, not month 5

 

“Patience is not sitting and waiting, it is foreseeing.
It is looking at the thorn and seeing the rose, looking at the night and seeing the day.”

– Rumi

 

Check out three ways you can plan long-term for marketing your business:

1. Visualize the company’s future

Think a step ahead of the most obvious business goals such as more sales (Hint: specificity over vagueness). 

Consider these questions to have a clearer idea of the company’s future:

  • Why is it important to you to offer the product or service you’re offering?
  • Who are your target customers? 
  • How does your offer solve their problems?
  • What are your business goals for the next week, month, and year?

 

2. Align marketing goals with business goals

Sounds obvious? However, it’s easy to get tangled in short-term marketing goals — the daily website traffic, the signups, the ad impressions. 

Your marketing goals must align with business goals if you want long-term success. Here’s how you can achieve the same:

  • Take conscious action over letting the immediate results drive you. Want to double the website’s organic traffic in 6 months? Optimize the website, generate backlinks, and implement on-page and off-page SEO. Running one ad might solve the problem short term, but without the mentioned practices, the issue will persist.
  • Involve marketing in the operational planning process. If the marketing team doesn’t know what the core values of the company are, they can’t build an effective marketing campaign.
  • Choose relevant KPIs and track their progress. If you don’t know how your website or marketing campaign is performing, you won’t be able to tweak them for better performance.

 

3. Analyze last year’s data

The process helps you understand what’s already working. Analyze these historical customer and sales data to decide your next steps:

  • Identify and segregate your target audience. For example, if you run a bookstore, a set of your target audience can be college students who prefer to read YA novels while another set can be women from the age group of 25-35 who prefer to read literary fiction. The data will help you curate your marketing campaigns better.
  • Figure out the historical value, current value, and lifetime value of the customer segments. 
  • Use predictive analysis and quality data to build ideal customer profiles. 

 

2. A field-guide to handling trolls

 

“Bring the pure wine of
love and freedom.
But sir, a tornado is coming.
More wine, we’ll teach this storm
A thing or two about whirling.”

– Rumi

Check out the three ways you can handle the trolls on your business account without sounding mean and ruining your image:

 

1. Deep breath time

Every user on the internet will see what you do on a business page as a reflection of the brand. Thus, keep your personal emotions aside. 

Time to take a deep breath, relax your jaws, and have a glass of water (Perhaps even curse in the air, but never online). Wait for your nerves to relax and logical senses prevail.

Afterwards, try one of these three methods:

  • Don’t respond at all. Trolls want to start an argument. That’s how they get their validation. If you don’t offer them the same, their interest will die down quick.
  • Be kind. Trolls can change their perspective if they see brands empathizing with them. 
  • Respond with facts or humor. However, use humor only if you’re 100% sure it won’t backfire or you’re Apple who can get away with it (Even then, don’t).

2. Encounter the trolls with facts

Trolls can attack in indirect ways that harm your business. For example, a one-star review on Google Maps can lower your aggregate score and impact search ratings.

Use these ways to tackle the situation:

  • Drop a reply stating you don’t have any customer record with that name and ask for additional information about their complaint. Furthermore, share a contact email.
  • If a troll leaves numerous one-star reviews from several accounts within a short span of time (say, one day), use the ‘Flag as inappropriate’ option to remove the reviews.
  • Respond to the misinformation the trolls are spreading with the correct information. If the troll says you’re using rotten meat to make your burgers, post a video that shows your staff cooking with the freshest meat. 

 

3. Use humor to troll the trolls

Trolls want to make people mad and don’t know how to respond to humor. 

If you want to get a better idea of how to do the same, following Wendy’s Twitter would be a free pass to a masterclass.

However:

  • Acknowledge the person 
  • Mirror the criticism with a witty reply
  • Never insult anyone

 

3. Don’t just say ‘be unique’. Actually be unique 

 

“I closed my eyes to creation when I beheld his beauty, I became
intoxicated with his beauty and bestowed my soul.
For the sake of Solomon’s seal I became wax in all my body,
and in order to become illumined I rubbed my wax.
I saw his opinion and cast away my own twisted opinion;
I became his reed pipe and likewise lamented on his lip.
He was in my hand, and blindly I groped for him with my
hand; I was in his hand, and yet I inquired of those who were
misinformed.

I must have been either a simpleton or drunk or mad that
fearfully I was stealing from my own gold.
Like a thief I crept through a crack in the wall into my own
vine, like a thief I gathered jasmine from my own garden.

Enough, do not twist my secret upon your fingertips, for I have
twisted off out of your twisted fist.”

– Rumi

Figure out your brand purpose

You can craft the core values, value proposition, and mission statement when you know the brand’s purpose.

Answer the following questions to get a clearer idea of the brand purpose:

  • Why do you offer what you offer (your product or service)?
  • What makes your offer unique?
  • Why should your target audience buy from you?

Build your brand voice

Your brand voice must be consistent in each piece of content you create — an email, a social media post, or a video on the website.

Think about the kind of voice you want to portray. Humorous or professional? Friendly or expert? 

Decide and stick to it. 

Audit the existing brand identity 

Answer these questions to audit the brand identity:

  • Is the brand consistent on every medium and even offline?
  • Does the brand voice, messaging, and placement align?
  • Does the brand resonate with the target audience?

 

Rumi as a marketing manager–stay ahead of the competition

50% of users visit a physical store of a business within a day of local search. Thus, knowing how to market your business is essential for growth. 

Furthermore, if you can grow your business while reading Rumi’s poems; there’s nothing better than that, right? 

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