What do you need to consider when doing your own marketing strategy? Everyone is always talking about the importance of marketing strategy. Strategy before tactics is the big buzz phrase! But a quick search on the internet shows that there is much confusion and many sites list the top 10 marketing strategies, and then list a whole load of marketing tactics.
It’s all rather confusing for everyone.
Marketing Strategy means that there is a focus behind your marketing plan and activity, which means that you have done research on the market and looked at things like your SWOT and business objectives. So when I do an initial piece of work with a client we go through this process.
Over the years I have created a simple process that I call ‘Seeing the Wood For the Trees’, which is what my clients want. Clients want a well thought out, well researched comprehensive plan and they want something simple and clear, with an easy to follow the process. Understanding the Importance of Marketing Strategy is very imperative for the management of the company if it wants to accomplish its goals.
So when I do a piece of work for a client this is what it looks like:
- Executive Summary
- Market Research. Health and Wellness Trends and media perceptions
- Competitor Research. A review of main competitors in the health/wellness sector (or companies with similar offerings in other sectors)
- Ideal Customer and Customer Personas
- Customer Journey
- Review of Brand and USP/ Key Message
- SWOT
- Business Objectives
- Marketing Strategies
- Marketing Tactics
- Marketing Calendar – so they know what is happening when. It also means that they can look back and see what happened over the previous quarter/year.
- Marketing Budget – so they know how much they are going to be spending and when.
- List of Marketing Materials required
- Measurement and Reporting set up for a health/wellbeing business looking to scale up. I set them up a reporting system, which is a spreadsheet which tells them what they need to report and when. Simple.
Appendix
- Basic review of existing/ previous marketing activity
- Basic website review
- Basic SEO audit
- Importance of Content and basic content audit
If you come from a corporate marketing background the way that you work might be quite different from how I work. The work that I do with my clients is an amalgamation of various things.
What I have learned from setting up, scaling up and selling businesses.
What I have learned from running a media agency for 10 years where every little number mattered A LOT! It was all about the importance of measurement, tracking and knowing your KPI’s. I want to measure everything!
What I have learned from taking courses, being part of ‘masterminds’ and group coaching with experts in their field. Courses like Seth Godin’s The Podcasting Fellowship and The Marketing Seminar.
What do you think? Do you have something like this for your business?
I finished a marketing strategy piece of work today for a client. They did mention that they had not expected to receive something so comprehensive and they were also surprised to see that they had a working document for the team to use. It meant they could get cracking straight away. A clear list of tasks and responsibilities so everyone knows what needs doing.
