In the world of business, there are a lot of things that are labelled as ‘vitally important’ to success. Usually, it’s things like cash flow or having a business plan, but in our opinion, marketing strategy needs to be added to that list. Any successful company you can think of —including all of the household names—will have a marketing strategy in place, and will review that marketing strategy on a regular basis. In fact, it is being a household name that everybody recognises is a direct result of that marketing plan. Because without marketing, a business has no way of reaching its customers. And without customers, you have no business. So if you don’t have a marketing strategy already, then this blog is for you.
What is a Marketing Strategy Anyway?
In broad terms, a marketing plan is like your game plan for reaching and converting customers. While your overarching business plan will cover every detail of how your business runs, your marketing strategy focuses specifically on who your ideal clients are, how you’re going to reach them, what your message is going to be, and what you can do to take them from cold prospects to confirmed customers. It’s one of the most vital elements to running a business—and yet it’s the one that’s most overlooked.
A good marketing strategy will cover many different elements, check out our Ultimate Marketing Strategy Template for help with structuring yours. And every company’s marketing strategy is different, so it’s almost impossible to copy and paste them and see results. Instead, you need to create your own marketing plan that’s unique to your customers and your business. That being said, every thorough marketing strategy should cover the 7 Ps of marketing, which are:
- Product
- Place
- Price
- Promotion
- Physical evidence/environment
- People
- Processes
We talked more in detail about what all of these are and how to achieve them in a recent blog, which you can read here.
5 Reasons Having a Marketing Strategy is Important
We’ve already mentioned what your marketing strategy should include, and you might be thinking that seems like an awful lot of work. And we won’t lie—it is, but it’s the most valuable work you will do in your business. If you’re not sure why that is, here are our top 7 reasons for having a marketing strategy. Oh, and it’s pretty fun putting it together too.
You Can Be Specific:
Every target demographic is different and will be attracted to different things—and it’s physically impossible to appeal to every single client demographic at once. And frankly, you don’t want to! You want to focus your time on prospects who might actually buy from you—not Debbie down the street who will never have any need for your services. Creating a marketing strategy forces you to really think about who your target audiences are, which means you can tailor everything you do to appeal to that person. The more specific your targeting, the more successful your marketing efforts.
Save Money:
Often we see the ‘let’s try some things and see what works’ approach from business owners—and 9 times out of 10 it’s a complete waste of time and money. Understanding who your target market is and what attracts them means you can stop spending money on campaigns that aren’t going to generate any business for you—and start putting that money into the ones that will. Having a strategy also means you can plan your efforts and resources effectively, and make sure your budget is planned cost-effectively as well. Ultimately a little shift in strategy can save you a lot of wasted money, and earn you more.
Build your Brand:
Marketing isn’t just about gaining new customers, it’s also about building up a recognisable, trusted brand in your industrys—one with a good reputation that people will want to work with. That doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t happen without planning. Brand building is all about consistent communication with your audience that gets your messages heard time and time again. A scattergun approach to marketing isn’t going to achieve this. A marketing strategy allows you to work out the steps involved in building your brand and ensure you are being consistent in your marketing efforts.
You Know What Success Looks Like:
If you don’t know what your end goal is, you will never be able to tell if your efforts are successful. It’s like getting into a car without a destination—you’ll go somewhere, but it probably won’t be where you wanted to end up. Creating a marketing strategy means you look at where you are now, compare it to where you want to be, and build a path of actions that connects the two. You can then figure out what you need to do to achieve each little step towards that goal, and measure how successful your efforts are. Tying in with our point above, if a strategy isn’t working, you can see this earlier and redirect your energy and money into one that is more effective for you and your business, helping you achieve your goals faster.
Develop Your Business:
One of the lesser-known side-effects of creating a marketing strategy is that you get to understand your target audience a lot better. And with that understanding, you can work backwards and alter your products or services to fit customer needs better, resulting in more sales. You can also use that knowledge to create new products and services you might not have thought of before. Marketing strategies give you the opportunity to expand your business beyond what it is now, solidify your position in the marketplace and grow your bottom line.
Get Started on Your Marketing Strategy Today
At Lion Spirit Media, we live and breathe marketing, and one of our favourite things to do is help business owners create marketing strategies. Our range of content marketing strategy packages means that a bespoke and comprehensive marketing strategy is in reach for every business, whether you’re a cub just finding your roar, or a pack leader determined to be heard throughout the jungle. If you would like to know more about creating your marketing strategy, or just need some support getting started, we would love to help. Just get in touch with the team at Lion Spirit Media today, and start the journey to discover your ROAR.
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