Getting your business noticed online by the right customers will be so much easier once you learn these fundamental steps creating a marketing strategy.
First thing we’ll get clear with is what is the difference between a marketing strategy and a digital marketing strategy.
A marketing strategy enables you to define your vision, mission, and business goals by outlining the steps you need to achieve these aims. It helps you identify potential customers and develop ways to reach them more effectively (and for less money) than your competitors. Need help writing a small business marketing plan? Read this.
How to write a small business marketing plan
A digital marketing strategy refers to a plan covering all aspects of your online marketing, from what you post on social media to investing ad dollars. In other words, it’s the moment-by-moment blueprint for how you will get your company noticed online.
4 common goals for a winning marketing strategy
When developing a marketing strategy for a new product, you’ll want to begin by clarifying your objectives. Here are four common goals to consider for a winning marketing strategy:
- Attracting new customers (lead generation)
- Engaging customers (brand awareness)
- Increasing sales from existing customers (upselling)
- Building meaningful relationships with customers (customer loyalty)
What are good marketing strategy questions?
It’s easy to get ourselves lost in the weeds when thinking about digital marketing strategy formulation – there are so many ways to approach it.
But no matter what, you should start by considering these five pivotal questions:
1. What does your company do? What is your mission? You should be clear on your purpose and goals, and these should be reflected in your business plan.
2. Who are your customers? You need to define your target market with a fair amount of precision before you can hope to reach them. Spend as long as you need to get this right, it will save you time and money.
3. What is your USP (unique selling point)? You have to have something that distinguishes you from your competitors; otherwise, why should they choose you over someone else? Think about this next point (4) if you need help defining your USP.
4. What kinds of problems do your customers have that you can solve with your product or service? You might think this is obvious, but it may not be apparent to everyone concerned. This is where doing some extra research can indeed pay off.
5. What is your budget for marketing? The smaller the budget, the more creative you’ll need to get!
The key to an effective marketing strategy is understanding
In the words of Stephen Covey, author of “7 Habits of Highly Effective People “Seek first to understand, then to be understood”. And once you understand you can then persuade (Stephen didn’t say this bit).
The key to an effective marketing strategy is understanding exactly who it is you want to sell to. Once you know your target audience and what they want, you can design your campaign to connect with them genuinely. The aim of the game is to create an emotional response. Keep this top of mind when creating content, from music and colors to your font and the words you choose. This is brand persuasion.
Look around, brand persuasion is everywhere. Businesses use persuasion strategies to increase sales and convince consumers to buy their products or engage with their services. From the office water cooler to the grocery store, we are constantly being persuaded to buy or do things. There are fundamental rules corporate marketing strategies rely on to persuade and influence – ready for them?
The six universal principles of buyer persuasion
- Reciprocity: Giving something in exchange for something else. Businesses may provide free samples to potential customers before they make significant purchases.
- Commitment: Making promises increases our likelihood of keeping them. Offering a free trial subscription or a money-back guarantee may help a hesitant consumer make a purchase.
- Pack mentality: Having a pack mentality makes us feel safe and comfortable. A company may utilize social proof like client testimonials to persuade buyers that their product is well-liked.
- Authority: Who doesn’t love an expert? Someone we can rely on to stay up to date, get the answer or solve a problem fast. Businesses frequently aim to create authority by positioning themselves as industry thought-leaders.
- Liking: People tend to be persuaded by people they like.
- Scarcity: Making something seem scarce makes it appear more valuable and desirable than if it were readily available and accessible.
Marketing to evolve and grow your business
A sharp marketing strategy reflects realistic marketing goals, methods, and actions founded on sound knowledge and investigation. But, any plan is only as good as your commitment to implementing it!
So, once you implement you must review… and review… and review…
Have a listen (8 mins) to how to build a feedback cycle into your business, product and marketing.
Be Seen: How to build feedback cycles into your B2B product & marketing
A great marketing strategy is an ever-evolving blueprint. Monitoring your strategy’s success should guide your efforts for the next stage. This is how you will grow your business.
