Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs And Marketing

Marketing is not just about "selling something". It is more about persuading people and convincing them that they need a product or a service. As marketing is about creating, understanding and satisfying a need, it requires mastering Psychology.

Now, at the time when new marketing channels has been invented and reinvented multiple times, and different ways to communicate with people has been established, the basic of understanding people as an essential part of marketing has become more relevant than ever before. The importance of humans and their needs in marketing has its origin in Psychology. Yes, Maslow knew it. Maslow's theory of motivation, better known as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, is older than Facebook and Twitter, but its content is still very valid and applicable to marketing, even to the most experimental marketing campaigns. Understanding the needs of the people will help us to create more effective marketing.

Level of needs, priorities first.

If you never heard of Maslow or his theory, let me start from the beginning. His theory describes human needs. Those needs are shown in a five levels pyramid. From the base to the top, each level represents the human needs which go from the most basic like breathing and sleeping to the most evolved ones such as belonging, esteem and self-actualization. 

Wikipedia 2016 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

For Maslow's, people start by fulfilling their most basic needs (food, water, sex, sleep and shelter), but when those are fulfilled they move up a level on the hierarchy to fulfill the needs included in the next level. To get to the next level you need to fulfill the needs of the level below. However, jumping up and down the pyramid is usual, too. As our circumstances change, our needs and its fulfilling change, too.   

Why Maslow's theory is relevant to marketing? 

This pyramid and the levels of needs help us to determine what our customers and prospects need, want and dream of.  We know that our customers are different, so we can assume that their needs are different, too. Creating campaigns to "all" might be inefficient as you might be offering products or services that are not at their level or reach. 

I find this extremely relevant when talking about international marketing. Understanding culture is important, but understanding the local conditions and needs also play a very important role. I remember once some marketing person trying to create videos to be shown in hospital, in countries in which basic medicines, working hospital and even doctors were unavailable. I was sure that they did not have TV on the hospitals...No doubt, a marketing fail.


When generating digital campaigns and automatizing marketing to mention some examples, sending the same content to all might look as an easy solution for saving marketing time and money. Remember to ask yourself first if all your customers, prospects and contacts are at the same level of the pyramid? Is the use of your product and service needed or even understood by all your audience? Is the answer is not, do not press enter to send that newsletter. Instead, create messages for different levels of needs.

Moving up and down- marketing to various needs level. 

Now, when we understand better the basic of Maslow’s theory, we can assume that most of people will move to the next level when the previous will be fulfilled. So, do the same with your marketing content and strategies. Create messages that will go from the most basic to the most advance level. Your basic message can be used to start targeting those who are not even aware of the need, to let them know that your solution is available. Step by step you can add more details and send the information to the people in different levels of the pyramid until you get to the evolved group. You show them all the bling and sparkle your product can have. 

Unfulfilled needs are great for your marketing, too. You can help your customer to move to the next level of the pyramid. It is not about being pushy, it is about being at the right time bringing the solution that your prospect is lacking.

Maslow's theory into (marketing) practice:

The importance of getting to know Maslow is to use this useful information and apply it when creating your marketing strategies and tactical activities. Summing up: 
 

- Understand your prospects and their needs. Remember to listen to your audience and to read their feedback! 

- Create the right message for the right target (based on their level). Go step by step.

- Offer products to fulfill their actual needs.

- Be proactive with your actual customer and use the "moving cycle" to offer the next level solution on time.

Thinking Out Of The Box And Learning From Other Companies

No matter what business or industry you are in, you will always benefit from studying and listening to other companies’ experiences, even if they are working in a different industry.

I have had the amazing experience to work for different companies and in very different industries. The common factor is that in many companies they believe that their industry is so “special” that nobody from outside will be able to understand. I encourage people to see what different industries are doing for inspiration and for thinking out of the box, or better to say out of their industry. Looking around can help us to get new ideas and to find different ways to do something that can shake a bit our marketing, communications and our general way of doing things. 

It is normal that, if we stay in the same place for long, we feel like we are the best for this job, because we have developed this “specific expertise” and therefore, we believe we know what is the most suitable for the company. The truth is that somebody from outside without that much specific expertise can bring a lot of value to the company. 

Listening and Learning From Others: 

When listening to other companies we need to be very open minded. Instead of thinking that “this will never work here” we should think of the way we can take the best of their experience, adapt it and apply it to our business. It is not about copying their ideas, it’s about figuring out what we can learn from them and how we can use their experience and make it a suitable part of our development.

When you listen or study other companies ‘move, it is worth analyzing why they made that move. Do you face similar situation? Does this apply to your business? If you want to focus on products and processes, bench-marking with other companies will help you to evaluate best practices and perhaps, save money before implementing new processes in your company.

When applying other companies’ ideas, if you think to stop because this is too experimental or too risky for your business, reconsider. Being the pioneer in your industry might be very beneficial. It is great to be the first one implementing something nontraditional. If this work, somebody in your industry might be following soon. 

It is also important to take a look at what the other companies' customer are talking about. What do you see?  Do they like the company’s initiative? How do they react to e.g. the new marketing campaign? For example, if their customers are sharing comments and info on the social media channels their info might be useful for you. This is their live testimonial, you’re getting direct insight into what customers want. How this company is managing this communication? Is there something that you can learn from them or even to do differently?

Listening to other companies experience will be useful for your company and for your employees. It will help you to think out of the box and catch new movement that are not yet trendy or common in your industry. Encourage you employees to be active in learning from others, this knowledge is perhaps more valuable than any other that they can get from books or courses. 

Why To Encourage Your Employees To Use LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the largest professional network in the World. Saying that, you might not be surprised that, if your employees are joining this channel, they will get exposed, and perhaps they might be discovered and contacted by other companies looking for new employees. However, this channel is not something to be afraid of. If your employees join LinkedIn it is not necessary to find a new job. In fact, they might be more interested in helping your company to get more (free) visibility.

LinkedIn is a rich channel, full of clients or prospects, business partners, potential hires, etc. Use this strategically and encourage your employees to do so.

Start by creating your company page/profile:

You need a good picture and a -even better- company presentation.

Remember to be clear and to use the right keywords to be found. You need to think as a marketer to provide clear information about what your business is all about. Of course, you also need to talk about your products and what you can offer to your audience. As in every marketing step, you need to know your audience well. Please, do not get the terminology too complicate. You want new prospects to find you. They need to understand you.

Remember to show your website address, your blog, and your links to other channels such as your company Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Keep your Profile Updated.

Encourage your team to join LinkedIn

Invite your employees to create their own LinkedIn profile.  Make sure that they describe your company well. Again, keywords are essential! Your employees are your brand advocates. Your company name and brand will be exposed which can be translated into more traffic to your website and more customers.

Encourage them to actively participate sharing information and joining the discussion groups. At the end of the day, LinkedIn is a channel for networking, so they need to network there.

Instead of checking what you employees are doing on the channels, create interesting and good quality material that your employees feel very proud to share. When your employees share e.g. news on LinkedIn they will help you to increase media mentions. This applies to other channels, too. When your people are using any social media they are a great source from information for journalists.  

Being on LinkedIn has become more and more important every day, not only for companies but, also for individuals. Take this channel seriously and prepare relevant and good quality information to share there.  You will see better results by getting your own troops, your employees, well trained, encouraged and especially, involved.