A marketing strategy is a crucial component of any company’s business plan. Too often managers or other higher-ups are quick to say, “Just get started,” or “We need to get something out there now,” without having a proper plan or strategy in place. But what exactly constitutes a good marketing strategy, and how does one come up with one?
A marketing strategy should aim to answer a few key questions: What do you want to market and why? Who and where are your customers? What will attract those customers? Where should you focus your efforts? There are others that could be included – but at the very least these should be addressed.
It is important to keep in mind that creating a marketing strategy is not something that should be rushed. It will and should take at least at least a few days to come up with a proper strategy that does not omit any details. You do not want to create a marketing strategy with holes in it, as this will often cripple your campaign unexpectedly when you realise that you forgot to plan for a certain media asset or to include an important fact or event.
In order to properly gauge the success of your marketing strategy, you should clearly define what it is you want to achieve, and set a date by which you want to see that goal reached. Say you want to increase sales revenue by a certain percentage within a month – you should be specifically tracking your sales progress to see whether or not you reach your goal. If you don’t reach it by your allocated date, then you should consider rethinking your marketing strategy and revising areas that may not be reaching their full potential.
To summarise, here are some basic tips for creating and executing a marketing strategy:
- Decide what you want to market and who your audience is
- Know what you want to achieve and set a deadline for this goal
- Don’t be afraid to revise if the strategy isn’t successful
- Utilise all applicable media assets – social, digital, print, etc.
- Create a timeline and do your best to stick to it
Plus, you can always ask for help. Here at Tower we are always happy to work with clients to decide what is best for their brand, event, or product and to devise a marketing strategy that is personalised to their needs. After all, no two marketing strategies will be the same! A properly produced and detailed marketing strategy can help you achieve numerous goals from your company – whether it be boosting revenue or sales, increasing your brand exposure, or conducting market research to better understand your audience – there is a marketing strategy to suit every company and their needs.