Conclusion

This module introduced you to the concept of marketing and briefly touched on how to get started communicating your marketing messages to your consumers. An essential part of marketing is deciding what makes you valuable to your customer – something that will help your customers trust you but that will also help you provide more value to them as your business grows. You also need to understand your audience as well as possible. After all, you can’t craft marketing messages that will appeal to them if you don’t know who you are!

The one core idea to take away from this module is: Don’t assume. Don’t assume you know who your customers are, who your competitors are, or why people like you. You always need to do research and base your findings on a genuine understanding of the data you produce.

Further Resources

• Here’s a talk by Seth Godin on how to get your ideas to spread.
• We highly recommend Red & Yellow’s digital marketing textbook, eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Marketing in a Digital World.
• Behold! Another Ted Talk, this one on How Christmas lights helped guerrillas put down their guns.
• If you’re up for some serious reading, here’s a book: Start With Why – How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action by Simon Sinek.
• Read a little more about why SWOTs are so important.
• Feeling a little over-confident? Most startups fail – here’s why.
• Learn more about Clay Christensen’s Milkshake Marketing.