Rediscover The Basics of Marketing with A.I.

The first principle of how to influence choice and cause change.

We don’t always like marketing, do we?

It can be annoying. Baby shark anyone? Marketing can be music because music influences us. It manipulates our mood. Music is powerful marketing.

We can even despise good marketing. Just look at some of the frustration around the writing contest on our favorite platform, but the entire time it’s doing exactly what it’s designed to do, attract attention and influence the audience.

Marketing can be uncomfortable. You feel the need to escape it in the mall as you do your best to avoid the salesperson waiting for you to pass by, standing in your way of where you need to go.

I did not always understand the significance of marketing. Once it’s properly defined in your mind, marketing becomes an illuminating field full of fascinating insights. You see it everywhere once you understand what marketing truly is.

No boundaries

It’s in politics. Good marketing can beat big money. Look at Obama in 2008 or Trump in 2016. They both captivated their audience, then influenced them for their vote. In marketing, it’s not about good or bad per se, it’s about being effective or ineffective. Of course, you should be honest in all you do, but we’ve all been duped before with a product or by a politician because the marketing did its job from the seller's perspective.

Timeshare anyone? Or was it just me? By the way, I think timeshares are a wonderful concept. It’s all about the presentation. We want to know what we are getting in return for our time, money, or vote.

Normally, buyer’s remorse does not happen because of the product itself. It feels like it’s the product, but really we have buyer’s remorse because the marketing was misleading. When we truly understand what we are getting, there is a smaller chance of buyer’s remorse. Are we ever too upset when something cheap breaks? Not really because it met our expectations.

A.I. in Marketing

Psychology, economics, art, writing, technology, product design, and music all play a role in marketing. With so many fields overlapping marketing, how can we simplify it as a concept?

I don’t want to dig into specific strategies or tactics in marketing. They will vary based upon the circumstances. If you need to learn about SEO from me, you are SOL. Besides, I’m betting against Google’s monopoly on marketing. You can read about it here if you like.

Normally, when we feel overwhelmed with a task, it’s because we are trying to learn every strategy and tactic versus trusting the first principles, then testing what works. This is the beauty of first principles. They never change. You can always trust them to guide you. If you must, you can always query your network or the system of information on the internet for specific tactics to fit your circumstance.

What are the first principles of marketing we can take into any situation to lead us in the right direction?

They are attention and influence.

Here they are in question form:

• How do I get attention?
• Once I have the attention, how do I influence choice or cause change?

Keep it this simple.

Attention

This first principle helps you ask all the right questions. Who’s attention do I need to get? How do I get their attention? How do I keep their attention? This is why writing easily overlaps with marketing. Any good writer is skilled at getting attention.

How far will you go to get attention is up to you, count the cost. Everyone remembers the controversy Nike endured when they jumped into the political arena to sign and support Collin Kaepernick. Brand building in a politically charged environment can be risky business, but Nike did it.

Not everyone is Nike, but fortunately, there are other ways to get attention.

The competition for attention is only getting tougher. TV commercials and billboards may go extinct. No one watches ads if they don’t have to. Even if you don’t buy the subscription on service to prevent ads, do you watch them or wait for the “skip ad” button? I can’t remember the last time I watched an ad.

Ads will be subtracted

It’s a shame because I like a good commercial. I find it funny to watch the commercials where you do not know what the product or service is until the end because they show the logo. Funny can work, but I prefer less confusing humor for advertising.

Funny or not, it really doesn’t matter because I believe the commercial days are over. Here are a few reasons why:

• If we want to buy something, we search for it ourselves.
• As previously mentioned, nobody wants to watch ads because it’s a waste of precious time. We will demand to be paid for our attention. Do you think I’m BAT crazy? Follow the link.
• More efficient marketing will take its place. Commercials, ads, and other forms of general marketing will get replaced with custom marketing tailored to a specific customer. Video production and streaming is getting accessible and cheap enough to make this possible.

This means all email and digital marketing not targeted to a specific customer will be obsolete. The consumer will dominate. Don’t worry, the first principles of marketing won’t change. How we get attention will.

Influence

This principle has overlapped with the first one, but you still have to move on once you have someone’s attention. Now you must influence.

Influence is all about helping the consumer make a choice or causing a change in a habit or behavior.

We do not lose the previous point about the future of marketing on influence because no one will want to be influenced without being paid for their attention or receiving a highly tailored ad.

It is what Seth Godin calls permission marketing. Give credit where it’s due because Seth saw this coming from a long way off. Seth’s predictions shouldn’t surprise us seeing how he has put the “God-in” marketing, literally.

Back of The Book

You should read this entire article because it will remind you of the first principles of marketing. They are attention and influence.

There will be big changes soon, but it won’t be the first principles of marketing to change. In fact, they will become more important. The best technology in the world can’t even work around the marketing game or first principles. Hello, blockchain.

Who can remember all the tactics and strategies of the whole marketing world? Nobody, but you don’t need to. Most of this comes from experience, anyway. Plus, you can always research in real-time about these things. What you must bring to every situation, regardless of tactics, are first principles and an open mind. Experience is a bonus.

Keep it this simple. No one can beat the AI in marketing, attention, and influence.