Marketing Strategy & Planning

CLICK HERE FOR PDF PRINT OUT OF THESE TIPS

"Never put all of your eggs in one basket"

In other words don't rely too heavily on only one method of marketing.

Instead, you should be using a variety of methods to generate those prospects and sales.

This means that if you have a bad month with your online sales for example, then you will still be generating leads through direct mail and your PR.

You are left more exposed to seasonality and outside forces if you rely too much upon a single strategy.

Yes, you will probably have a dominant method of marketing but what I am saying here is that you should have many processes in place to bring in the leads.

I worked with one client where we generated over 43 different ways to bring prospects into his business!

In order to work out what methods are best, you need to have a clearly defined marketing strategy and a plan of action.

The first thing I normally do when working with clients to formulate a marketing strategy is to gain an understanding of their customers and their needs - and you should do the same!

The ability to satisfy your customers' needs better than your competitors will help you to build customer loyalty and increase sales.

You should also take into consideration any changes, opportunities or any threats that currently face your industry or may face your industry in the future.

Once armed with your customers needs and desires you can create a whole marketing plan around them, targetting niche groups with products and services that will solve their problems and cater to their needs.

You can then select the most appropriate marketing method to reach your targetted segments at the right cost.

An example of marketing strategy statement is as follows:

"We will use a low cost product to attract consumers. Once our organisation, via our low cost product, has established a relationship with consumers, our organisation will sell additional, higher-margin products and services that enhance the consumer's interaction with the low-cost product or service."

Every marketing strategy is unique.

Here are some questions to ask yourself before designing your strategy:

Do you want to be an industry leader?

A rapid follower?

A challenger to the status quo?

Do you want to offer specialist services to a segment of your industry and dominate that niche?

How will your company grow?

What is your competitive advantage?

Are you a cost leader?

Are you a service leader?

Do you offer the best products?

Are you innovative?

Are you a pioneer?

Where do you want the business to be in 5 years time?

Where do you want it to be in 6 months time?

How can you leverage advantage out of your current client base?

What am I doing to keep my existing customers?

Do I have a customer retention strategy?

Do I have a customer acquisition strategy?

How can I measure the effectiveness of what I am doing?

Am I making assumptions about what my customers want?

What is my competition doing?

Am I trying to do too much, too soon?