Ayushman's Blog

Marketing is storytelling. With every strategy and tactic we execute as marketers, we are telling a story. We are communicating to the audience about who we are, what we do, what our values are, and who we serve. Sometimes these stories might require us to do some hard things. Saying “no” is one of them. “We have premium pricing because we have a premium product. We make you feel things, and we increase your status. We give you things to talk about with your friends and family. We build relationships, and we care about you. If the price is a decision-making factor and all you want is the bare minimum, then sorry, we are not for you. Because that is not who we are. But here is another business that can do this for you and whose worldview matches yours. Please do reach out to them.” The ability to say no, because it is not aligned with our positioning, is essential. Everything we do and every step of marketing we take needs to be aligned with the story we tell ourselves and the people we...

Suppose we have a product that needs to be launched in the market. And let’s say this product is a major change for our customers because it is a new way of doing things that are already working fine. (Something like Google Workspace vs. Microsoft Teams vs. Slack). So, how do we position ourselves to make our audience accept us and make the buying decision? We can approach this in two ways: Change is difficult, but if you don’t buy our product and continue with the alternative, then you’re not doing the right thing because it’s not good for you in these many ways. You have to come on board with us. Change is difficult. Here is how our product is different and a better choice for “you” than your current alternative. We will be with you throughout the change process, and we promise you will come out better at the other end. Would you want to come on board with us? Now, both of these approaches are putting some pressure on the customers. But they are still different. In the first approach...

One of the major aspects of SEO is off-page SEO, or backlinking. What it essentially means is the number of referring websites that link to us and are relevant to our industry shows how much credibility and authority our website has. Makes sense, as it is a great indicator of the trustworthiness of a website. But the question to ask is, what is the driving principle behind this approach that even organisations like Google had decided to integrate? Simple – “People like us do things like this.” This is a great perspective put forward by the marketing legend, Seth Godin. You can read his detailed take on it here if you’d like to. What “People like us do things like this ” means is a group of individuals that are part of a community do things a certain way, work with a certain type of people, buy a certain type of product, and trust a certain type of business. This is the driving principle behind culture and how a community works. And this brings to light two very essential questions th...

Coffee is undeniably a favourite for most people. We start our days with it, and we probably cannot even think about our day without a cup of coffee. Yet, for something so ingrained in our culture and everyday lives, we don't necessarily look into the whole process behind how we get that coffee in the first place. But any person smart enough would know and tell you that it all starts with the coffee beans. Anything after acquiring the beans is just improving on something already great. Because if you get the beans and the roasting wrong, no matter how great the latter part of the process is and how many changes you make, it won't be good. Now I believe we humans like to complicate really simple things, but it's so unnecessary. And that is what we do with marketing strategies. What holds true for coffee very well holds true for strategies. You get the beans right, and you have a great cup of coffee. So spend your time selecting the best beans and in the roasting process. You...

I was recently having a conversation with someone who is a really skilled doctor and has been in the industry for quite some time. He doesn't have any online presence for his practice because he is one of those people who is very cynical about persuasion and influence. Consequently, he considers marketing an unethical practice. He had his own reasons and rightly so. Our conversation ranged from the importance of online presence to competency versus marketing. This didn't make much sense to me because I see them as the same thing. But then I thought about it. It's a fact that there are still so many SMEs and local businesses out there who have these negative perceptions of marketing that it's not ethical, not effective, an unnecessary expense and so much more. And there are reasons for that. Not just one, but I believe there are many factors that come into play here. Now, some people are cynical, and that's their personality. No matter how much we try, we can't h...

The internet is made up of a billion conversations, and these conversations are driven by people. People from different cultures, backgrounds, and different ways of looking at life allow them to make sense of their world. As marketers, I believe it's our responsibility to influence this culture and make change happen, which is beneficial for them. Not only is it ethical, but that is what a marketer signs up for. The people we serve have a storyline in their minds, and we need to make sure our product and our brand fit into this culture and this storyline so that we have the best chance of helping them. This view in itself implies certain things. We cannot market to everybody because everyone is not part of the same culture, so the people we serve need to be very niche. I guess that's where the concept of an ideal buyer persona comes in as well. It also means that as our target audience changes, our marketing strategy needs to change drastically as well. And most importantly, we...

Look at any product around you right now and ask yourself a question: “Why do I have it?” You’d either have an answer or you wouldn’t, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you have it, and you bought it because you thought you needed it. Now, whether that need is valid or not is a different thing and depends on the individual. But the fact that some brand was able to make you realise that need or induce that in you is a success in marketing. We live in a world where all our necessities are met, and for the first time in the history of any species, we’re probably the ones who face a problem because there is an excess of food to eat and things to have.  We know that we probably don’t need most of the things we possess, and that’s why minimalism is picking up so much because we’ve become smarter at telling the difference between essential needs and acquired needs. So the question I want to ask is, What does it mean for marketers? I believe this brings forth challenges to mark...