1 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Defining Your Marketing Strategy
Today’s guest post comes from the newest member of the Duct Tape Marketing team Kala Linck – Enjoy!
It’s February already! That means another year of customers, products, and sales. What are you doing to reach your customers, promote your products and improve sales? Did you set goals for the upcoming year? How are you going to reach them?
Photo Credit: From TyrrellMarketing.co.uk
This is where your marketing strategy comes in. What is a marketing strategy? How do you create one? Don’t worry, that’s what I’m here to help with.
A marketing strategy combines all of an organization’s marketing goals into one comprehensive plan. The goal of a marketing strategy is to increase business and grow awareness of your organization. There are several pieces of information you’ll need in order to create this strategy.
First, what are your sales goals? At the end of the year, you’ll need to have something to determine that your marketing efforts were effective.
Do you want to increase sales by 10 percent? Would you like to sell more of a certain product or service? At the end of the year, what numbers will tell you that you’ve had a successful year?
Second, what marketing efforts do you currently have in place? You will use this to ensure that current marketing efforts are being utilized and consistent throughout the year, and to determine which you would like to add or take away.
Do you have a website? Do you participate in social media? Have you purchased radio ads or a billboard? Have you noticed that some of these are more effective than others?
Third, what is your target audience? This will help determine the channel you use to distribute your message, what your message is, and even where to focus sales!
Who buys your products? Where do they hear about your company? What needs do they have that your products or services meet?
Last, what are your key messages? These messages should align your products and services with your target audience. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your organization.
What needs improvement; what is being improved? What are customers saying about your organization? How do your products and services meet the needs of your target audience? What products and services do you offer?
As you start to flush out what your organization offers, to whom, and how you can best reach your audience to meet your goals, your marketing strategy will start to unfold.
When you begin putting this together, focus on the big picture first and then later, the specific tactics you will use to accomplish these big picture plans. Your marketing strategy statements should look something like this; “We will make our target audience aware of our improved customer service for returns to increase online sales by 5 percent.”
Need some help putting together a marketing strategy and then creating tactics to meet your goals in 2015? Talk to a Duct Tape Marketing consultant.
Kala is a specialist in digital marketing, who loves nothing more than picking up a newspaper and tuning into the local stations. She’s worked with clients spanning a variety of industries and knows that people are the heart of a successful business. Currently enrolled at the Kansas City Art Institute to receive a certificate of integrated design, she believes in continuous learning. She loves to travel and try new foods, and documents her travels in her blog. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram.