Last week we looked at how basic details can make a big difference.
This blog looks at some of the essentials every business should be doing when they are planning some marketing activity.
These good old fashioned techniques won’t be going out of fashion anytime soon.
Have a purpose
Start with the end in mind … What is the purpose of your marketing … what it is you are trying to achieve? You may be looking to retain more customers, acquire new ones, or a combination of both. To aid these you may be looking to create more awareness, increase conversion rates or raise your profile.
Being crystal clear on your purpose and how this purpose supports your overall business goals is a key essential for keeping marketing on track.
Know your customer
It’s at the heart of all great marketing in my opinion. Knowing the ideal customer profile (persona) is fundamental to success. Why do your customers use your product/service? What challenges are they facing? What pain points are you solving for them? What are you helping them to aspire to? What makes a customer happy? What doesn’t? Where do they hang out? When do they buy?
Understanding customer behaviours is essential for creating relevant marketing.
Be curious
Knowledge is power. If you know what your customers really want and your competitors don’t, then that provides a powerful advantage. The ability to ask the right question is a precious skill. Market research in whatever form across whatever platform is a way to inform your strategy and plans.
Asking the right questions to discover how customers feel provides potent ammunition and is an essential to making marketing plans.
Have a plan
Planning is often abandoned in favour of getting cracking with the activities. Knowing exactly how you will achieve your goals is well worth the thinking time.
Being clear on your current situation, your targets and what you want to achieve, what’s involved to get there, who specifically are you targeting, who will help you, what budgets you will require, what is going to happen when, and how will you know how well it’s working.
Having a clear plan is essential for marketing to remain focused.
Review and Improve
Having a system of measurement built in to your marketing enables companies to make improvements in the future. What’s working? What isn’t working too well and not worth repeating, What are your customers saying? Where do your marketing efforts need to be centred? Which target market is responding best? Which are the most successful channels?
Finally, a word to the wise…
Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts
Albert Einstein
I like this quote because it is often the intangibles that are really powerful in building a brand – the relationship building, the kind word, the unexpected reward – these may be difficult to measure but they are an essential part of successful brands.
Reviewing and improving the marketing plan frequently is essential to gaining the best return on investment.
These five essentials are classic marketing skills that in my opinion are at the foundation of all great marketing. Blend them with the latest in technology and beautiful things happen.
Karen Lambert is a creative thinker, experienced strategic marketer, founder and Managing Director of Happy Creative.
