The Top 3 Marketing Lessons of Elon Musk
Elon Musk is the founder of two of the most popular businesses in the world right now: electric car maker Tesla and space company SpaceX. Together, these companies have brought us modern electric cars (Tesla) and affordable space travel for everyone (SpaceX). But that’s not all that makes Elon such a great marketer. As he says, “marketing is everything”. He understands this so well that he has made marketing a central part of his business strategy from day one. Here are three marketing lessons we can learn from him.
Communicate often, with clarity
Ever since he’s got his foot in the door, Elon has been communicating his mission and vision to the world. He has done so in brilliant language and high-quality communication channels. He has been active on social media platforms and has even written books on his company’s mission and vision. He has also been vocal on forums, giving his thoughts on the state of the electric car industry, technology and more. This constant communication is important because it makes him relevant and gives him a voice in the industry. It also makes him relatable to his customers and other interested parties who are looking for a business with a mission. But communication does not end there. Elon has also been active on forums and answering questions from his customers and the public. This has helped him build a relationship with his customers and help create a sense of community around his brands. This can be compared to the way a doctor creates a relationship with his patients and builds trust as a result. In marketing terms, this is called “pre-customer engagement”. It’s a crucial step towards building a long-term, loyal relationship with customers.
Embrace transparency
One characteristic of great brands is complete transparency towards both their products and people. Brands that are transparent are likely to be trusted by customers. Think of the best brands you’ve ever bought. How did you find out about them? There’s a good chance you saw an ad on social media, heard about it from a friend, read a positive review, or found them through a product comparison site. Transparency is important in every business, but especially so in marketing. It’s the foundation on which trust is built. When consumers see that a business is transparent, they’re likely to be more understanding and forgiving of any shortcomings within that business. They’re also more likely to recommend that brand to their friends.
How to Built a Design Business from Scratch
Deliver on your promises
The world loves a great story, which is why it’s so important to deliver on your promises. Great brands are never satisfied with simply showing their products and getting paid for it. They want to tell the story of how their products have changed the world and how they’re going to make that happen again. They want to deliver on their promises of making their products easier to use and more convenient to buy. They want to deliver on their promises of making their brands more accessible and welcoming to their market. These promises are not empty words. Rather, they’re expectations that the brand has of itself. To fulfill them, a brand will have to make a number of commitments. It will have to make promises to customers, promises to employees, promises to investors, and promises to the government.
Trustworthy is more important than trendy
One of the most important characteristics of a great brand is trustworthiness. This is more important than being trendy. Trustworthiness is about consistency: how trustworthy a brand has been in the past, what promises it has made to its customers in the past, and what it will do in the future. A reputable brand will likely be consistent over time. It will likely not change its promises to customers without reason and it will likely not change if it is forced to. Consumers have trouble trusting new brands because they can’t predict what they will do next. This can be frustrating for consumers who want to make a purchase but don’t know what they should look for when they are researching a product. A great example of trustworthiness is Tesla. Tesla has been consistent over the course of its history. It has promised to make electric cars that are both convenient and easy to use. It has not changed these promises in the face of obstacles and it has delivered on all of them so far. There’s no reason to doubt that it will continue to do so in the future, either.
Bottom line
These are just three of many marketing lessons we can learn from Elon Musk. If you’re looking to improve your marketing strategy, start by learning from the best. From how he communicates to how he delivers on promises, from how he makes his brand trustworthy to how he builds community, there’s a lot to learn from Elon Musk’s marketing strategy. If you’re interested in looking further into Elon’s marketing strategy, you can visit his marketing website or read his marketing book.