Newton’s laws of marketing
Marketing is a science as it is an Art. There are principles that work, formulas containing constants and variables, multipliers and progressions. Its geometry involves angles (perspectives) and distance (campaign span/tenure).
Embedded in Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion, are some Laws of Marketing. let us take a look at the three Laws one after the other:
- First Law (Law of Inertia): Inertia is (a)the reluctance of a body at rest to enter motion and (b)the reluctance of a body in motion to come to rest. As a marketer, your job is to take the customer from inertia(a) to inertia(b); from saying “I will not/cannot use this product/service” to “I can’t stop using this product/service”. It is the conversion from Skeptic to Believer. The work in-between includes product education, content marketing and delivering great user/customer experience.
Another vivid explanation of this first Law is: A body (customer) will remain in a state of rest (not using a product/service) or continue at a uniform motion unless it is acted upon by external force(s). Relating this to Marketing, this means that your customers will never use a product/service OR will continue using traditional or other existing methods or even using your product/service at a minimal level, unless they are convinced otherwise by external influence(s). Marketing is a force; an external force even though many customers may disagree and insist they made the decisions by themselves.
2. Second Law (Impulse): The rate of change of momentum with respect to time is directly proportional to the applied force. This means, the rate of adoption of your product/service or the rate at which your product/service is being used depends on your marketing techniques. It is a direct relationship: good marketing produces good results. But “good” here is retrospective because what works for A may not work for B, but as soon as your research shows a clear path that works apply more pressure there. If your customers adopt or continue to use your product because is creates some class for them and differentiates them from “ordinary” then your campaigns must continue to massage that sentiment. Your retention strategies also obey this law. Some products require constant follow up (calls and emails) to sustain the frequency of use while others do not. A lady buys a Ferrari and every week she’s getting calls and mails from the company, she’ll probably freak out and get a Benz next time. But a new accounting software may need constant education and follow up.
3. Third Law (Action & Reaction): For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction: This law is based on the perspective of your users/customers. That is why it is important to use “Empathy” as a tool; you have to walk in your customers shoes. That is why experienced Product Managers use private testers for their products before shipping it to the public. For example, Game companies would have different age demography play the game and they’d record reactions and feedback. This is because a user/customer has an expectation preceding an action, and so, as he clicks/pushes that button, or opens that link or inputs that data, his expectation turns to satisfaction or disappointment. And the magnitude of the expectation equals that of the consequent satisfaction or disappointment.
This is the reason Marketing leads have to work with the product team as they design user interfaces.
So there, you have completed the course, Newton’s Laws of Marketing and you are ready to apply this Marketing science to your strategies.
Success as you sell!
