Many businesses jump straight into marketing without a plan.
This is a big mistake.
Going into battle without a strategy will leave you with a poorly spent marketing budget and lackluster results.
Often enough, the difference between companies who dominate the marketplace and companies who fail to get off the ground is simple: A clear, successful strategy.
Many businesses focus on tactics (e.g. PPC advertising, content marketing, etc.), but these tactics often fall flat without a strategy.
By creating strategies, you drastically improve the performance of your tactics. In today’s post, we’re going to show you can craft a successful marketing strategy that’s tailored for your business.
1. Define Your Target Market
Before you create a strategy, you must answer this question “who do you serve?” If you cannot describe your target market, it’s pointless to brainstorm your digital marketing strategy. Start by identifying who is the most interested in your products and services. Next, find where these people spend their time online. Once you’ve determined who they are and where they spend their time, move to step two.
2. Define Your USP
Your unique selling proposition essentially describes why your product or service is different and superior that that of the competition. For you to do this, you must put yourself in your customer’s shoes, and you must understand why they would buy from you. We craft a USP so we can build a marketing strategy around our strengths. When brainstorming your USP, identify one or two key benefits of your product or service. From there, condense those benefits into one sentence.
3. Uncover Your Goals
What do you hope to accomplish with your marketing? Whether you want an increase in sales or you simply hope to increase your number of email subscribers, you need to identify your goals so that you can start building your strategy towards them.
4. Determine Your Marketing Methods
Once you have your target audience, and you know where to find them, it’s time to decide how you’re going to reach them. This will differ for every business. Some businesses will be successful using SEO, while some will be better served using PPC marketing. Whatever the method, create a plan of action on how you’re going to execute it.
5. Decide Your Budget
Because you don’t have an infinite marketing budget, it’s important you get a number on the limit you can spend. Once you’ve identified your goals and your marketing methods, you can decide on a budget that fits your needs. Think of your marketing budget as an investment to help your team reach its goals.
Conclusion
Here are a few final tips for you to keep in mind:
- Strategize for the short term and long term. Your short-term goals should feed your long-term goals. A short-term goal of adding 100 email subscribers this week can serve your long-term goal of generating a certain percentage of revenue through email.
- Revisit your marketing plan every few months. Determine what’s working and what isn’t. If there’s something that can be eliminated from the strategy, get rid of it. If there are ways to improve, do so. Don’t stick to a losing strategy; don’t be afraid to scrap it and start from scratch.
- Marketing success starts with building a strategy. While the average company flounders and markets randomly, you can follow our 5-step process to create an actionable strategy that will a true difference in your business.
