How to implement an effective marketing strategy? When you start marketing, whether for a very small business or a company that already has several departments, the question of marketing strategy will arise very quickly. If communication agencies offer to assist companies in this mission, it is also possible to do so internally. Here are 5 important factors about Marketing to get success in business and doing this effectively.
1. Analyze the targets of your marketing strategy
It sometimes seems of little use to go back to your targets and analyze them as you think you know your business and therefore your market, but this step remains essential. This process consists of creating small cards describing the typical profile of people likely to become your customers. It is necessary to create several in order to cover all the segments or groups that make up your target.
This will allow you to define both their identity but also their needs and expectations in order to respond to them in your messages, services, and products. Don’t be afraid to be too specific or overdo it! The more details you have about your potential customers, the better you will be able to reach them. And if you’re just starting out and don’t have much experience yet, you can ask trusted people or typical customers to answer quick surveys that you can distribute online, by email, or by phone. You can also consult with professional online marketing company. The company can help you find the right approach for your business and see results quickly.
2. Study your competitors
Some specialized blogs leave this step for later, but a good competitive study especially if you do MSP Marketing is very important from the start of the project like LeftLeads. It is true that sometimes we can be afraid of being too influenced by the messages and modes of communication of our competitors and thus of losing the perspective necessary for any original creation! However, knowing your competitors well will allow you to be comfortable with your market and not have any unpleasant surprises once you are launched.
For this step, you will of course need your own experience. If you have chosen your field of activity, it means that you have been interested in it for a while and most certainly that you have trained for it. You have therefore rubbed shoulders with other players in this sector. Prepare a table showing their strengths and what you identify as weaknesses, and check their mode of communication and the networks they use. Analyzing their offers and their prices is also an excellent way precisely not to copy them afterward and to differentiate yourself!
3. A good marketing strategy includes objectives
You were in a hurry to formalize them and highlight them! Your objectives are of course the central point of your strategy. To be sure to aim correctly, think of the SMART method.
- Specific: An objective must be precise and sufficiently detailed
- Measurable: It is necessary to be able to give a measure to your objective
- Achievable: Your goal must be within your reach
- Realistic: Be honest with yourself and do within your means
- Temporally defined: Give yourself a deadline that is consistent
You can define several objectives, whether they are complementary or not. This will allow you to plan several axes of development and therefore carry out a more complete strategy. For example, take an interest in your objectives in terms of leads, new customers, the community on social networks, and of course turnover.
4. Find what sets you apart
At this stage, you know who you are going to address, you know who makes up your market and you have defined SMART objectives. You can go for this 4th advice to what defines you and will allow you to make a difference. It is generally a rather stimulating moment because it allows you to refocus on yourselves and to offer relevant responses to the needs of your customers.
You will thus learn to know yourself better and determine your strong points, and this is essential to find out your weak points. It is necessary to be comfortable with the axes that you will release because you will have to use them on a daily basis! For example, if your strength is represented by the expert profile of your team, it will be necessary to highlight it regularly and therefore ensure that each member agrees with it.
5. Become an expert in your field
This advice requires dedicating time to your business, but it can really set you apart. At this stage, the foundations of your strategy are laid and you can calmly put them in place. At the same time, it will be very interesting to show your targets that you are best placed to meet their expectations. This notably involves writing appropriate content, regularly broadcast on your site and/or your networks.
You can use a blog or a news section. The key is to deliver relevant, interesting, up-to-date, and very useful information for your readership. This has several interests for you since in addition to giving material to your prospects but also to search engines. It’s a bit like continuous training that gives you the opportunity to always be on top of what’s being done and what works. You will be closer to your targets and will have varied and adapted responses to offer them.
Bonus tips: 6. Measure the results
This seems obvious and yet this phase is very often ignored and forgotten by companies. Due to a lack of time and resources, most of them cannot take the necessary step back to analyze the results and check what worked and what, on the contrary, did not have the expected effects. Yet it is here that everything will be played out for the smooth running of the company, in the medium and long term.
You can consult your page and regularly check your progress. At the end of this mission, you can note the means and the time it took and decide if it is profitable or at least relevant. Is your investment in this mission worth the profit reported by its new members?
To sum up…
In the leads received, define which ones can become future customers. These leads will be the ones you will particularly target in your marketing actions.
At the same time, define the cost of acquiring a customer. It is quite simple to calculate. Add the costs of your marketing and communication actions and divide the sum by the number of customers over a given period. This is a great indicator.
