Is Your Marketing Strategy Successful?

To help your business be successful, you should have a marketing strategy. This is not the same as a marketing plan.

A marketing strategy will lay out the overall long-term goals. This would include goal-setting, researching your industry and your competitors, and your messaging for your brand.

A marketing plan is more detailed outline, for monthly, quarterly or annually activities. This would involve the specific actions to take in order to achieve your Marketing Strategy’s goals.

For smaller companies, sometimes the strategy and the plan maybe combined when the company may only run one or two major campaigns in a year.

Do I really need a Marketing Strategy?

Without a well defined strategy, it’s like you’re just throwing things out there and hoping they’ll work! That only costs you money, time, and resources. A marketing strategy helps a company determine where their marketing dollars will have the most impact.

A few of the reasons your Business needs a Marketing Strategy:

• It Provides Direction – A marketing strategy clearly outlines your goals, and defines the pathway for you to achieve those goals.
• Helps to Know your Target Audience – This helps you to determine and understand your target audience so you can tailor and provide the right messaging.
• Builds your Brand – Your marketing strategy helps in creating consistent messaging. This builds your identity in the marketplace, and in creates loyalty to your brand.
• Provides good Evaluation – Analyzing your competition, market trends and customers actions, marketing strategies help in finding the best avenues for marketing your business. This evaluation will help in maximizing your ROI or Return on Investment. Also providing what you need to make the best decisions moving forward with your marketing campaigns. What’s working and what needs to change or improve on.

Creating a Marketing Strategy

1. Do your market research – Know your competition, what they are doing and how often.
2. Identify your goals – Whether daily, monthly, or quarterly, know where you want to take your business.
3. Know your clients – Are you B2B Business to Business or B2C Business to Consumer, who are you wanting to target?
4. Create your message – If you provide services or have products to sell, determine what you want your potential customers to know about you and your business.
5. Define your budget – The size of your company is a good way to estimate the percentage of revenue to budget for your marketing. Small sized business 7 to 8% , Medium sized business 10%, Large sized business 15%.
6. Determine your marketing channels – Many companies, such as Select Marketing, find blog posts to be of the most value. Also sharing on the social media channels you prefer, choose 2 or 3. Paid ads through Google, or other social media channels are a better choice for others. Larger businesses, use direct mail or other print advertising options. Find what best works for you.
7. Track and Measure your success – Are you reaching your audience? Are you getting comments on blogs, or likes and comments on social media? Is the phone ringing, and are you getting contacted through your website? All of these help to determine the success of your marketing efforts.

Be Prepared and Listen!

A business marketing strategy can be impacted if availability for your products or services becomes an issue. Make sure that availability is not a factor. Also have the right personnel for all the services you offer. Have a back up plan in case your supply chain gets disrupted. Be flexible and be prepared to adjust quickly and provide alternative options. This can be the difference between going out of business and surviving.

Pricing will say a lot about you and your business. Understand it and be sure that your clients understand it as well. Being too cheap is just as bad as being to expensive. Unless you have a valid reason for cheap or expensive pricing, it’s probably not in your BEST interest. Be aware of your industry standards, competition, and your clients perception of your pricing.

Listen to your clients, as they are a true barometer of your marketing strategy. Your clients control the future of your business with their willingness to pay the price that you are asking. Pay attention to them! If necessary, make some changes in your business that they may be asking for or even expecting.

Make sure your company understands your market and   delivers what your marketing strategy is calling for. If you can’t deliver your plan, then it is not correct at this time. Change your plan to match your abilities. Be honest! Don’t shoot yourself in the foot trying to be something you’re not.

Stay on top of industry standards. Make sure your business is up to them as well.

Know your competition and pay attention to them. If they are worth their salt, they will be paying attention to you. Competition is good for everyone. It makes us all better at what we do. Don’t be afraid of it. Embrace it!

Again, be flexible with your marketing strategy. Change is not always a bad thing. It often allows for growth. Contact Select Marketing and let us help with your marketing needs.

updated April 2024
updated June 2022