When was the last time you your business had a real, well though-out, well executed marketing plan? What were the results?
In my experience the answers to these questions are usually anything from blank stares to uncertainty at best.
One of the most common hallmarks of small business is a lack of marketing strategy, and too many marketing tactics. The "shot-gun spray effect" marketing, where the tactical idea of the week gets most of the mind share of the business owner and never delivers measurable results. In order for a business to achieve a measure or progress, strategy and tactics must go hand-in-hand, but an effective strategy must be in place before any set of tactics make sense.
“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”
This Sun Tzu quote, borrowed from the Art of War
Many businesses think they have strategies, or perhaps begin conversations of strategies, but ultimately misunderstand strategy and short-cut the process in favor of quick gimmicks. Well then, what is marketing strategy?
Let's start with what it’s NOT. Strategy is not a wish list, a set of goals, mission statement, or litany of objectives.
How, not what
A marketing strategy is a clear explanation of how you’re going to get there, not where or what there is. An effective marketing strategy is a concise explanation of your stated plan of execution to reach your objectives. The strategy decides which and how many tactics to use to achieve a measurable end.
Example
• To lead the market is not a strategy – it’s an objective.
• To serve our customers better than competitors is not a strategy – it’s a mission.
• To increase the number of new customers is not a strategy – it’s a goal.
All of these are nice, but how do you plan to achieve them? Strategy (the plan) paired with a logical set of tactics (the chosen tools) is the surest way to achievement.
To become a market leader you may find that an effective strategy is to carve out one very narrow market niche and dominate it. To serve your customers better, you may find that an effective marketing strategy starts somewhere in your hiring process. To increase the number of new customers you may find that an effective marketing strategy is to build a formal network of strategic referral partners. Each of these strategies will have a corresponding list of tactics and action steps, but the action plans and campaigns will all have your stated strategy as a filter for decision making and planning. Marketing without strategy leads to blind ad spending and wasting valuable time on campaigns or setting up new technologies without a clear vision of where you’re headed and how you’ll get there. What's worse, is it lacks reflective data to show what's working and what's not.
Start with a business review and SWOT analysis. Establish SMART goals.
Identify key audiences, create customer profiles and discover opportunities in your customer journey.
Optimize and integrate each marketing channel: email, web, commerce, your app, mobile, social, service center, sales teams etc.
Connect your data and leverage your technologies to gain new insights and capabilities.
Schedule and create beautifully effective campaigns, initiatives and offers.
Assess staffing, support and training needs. Scrutinize each process.
Plan and do research, measure, benchmark and evaluate the metrics that matter. Shift accordingly.
Build your budget. Secure resources and partners if necessary.
Set strategic priorities. Your best opportunities to improve marketing outcomes. Finalize and review the results for future campaigns.
Ready to talk strategy on how to create a winning marketing plan that leverages your data, technology and other resources? Say hello.
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