How do you compare your marketing strategy resources?

One thing I′ve found helpful is to challenge the objectives to be realistic. In large companies is very usual that you have some objectives set from a historical or heritage perspective and it should. The question to be answered in an objective setting is what is the most that can be done in order to fulfill the company's strategic objectives. Then review the resources or capabilities needed to fulfill this specific objective, and then come the questions about compromises.....by allocating these resources here what I will not achieve in other objectives? Run the process several times and by iteration, you will get closer to the company's optimum goal definition.

Before defining goals and bearing in mind that strategy has to be executed by people (teams) is very important to reflect about what is behind goals. I am refering to "purpose". If company employees and customers have a clear understanding about the purpose, is more easy to set up smart goals

Over the years, I've embraced a crucial concept: "People Matter." It's about deeply understanding the audience and crafting tailored approaches for each individual. The approach should emphasize a holistic understanding of the brand and target demographics. By leveraging data analytics and cultural insights, campaigns can enhance brand visibility and foster genuine connections with consumers. A commitment to social change marketing should transcend profit motives. Utilizing storytelling to challenge biases can drive positive change in communities. In essence, the strategy champions values, promotes inclusivity, and fosters authentic engagement. Aligning marketing with societal trends positions brands as catalysts for positive change.

As a marketing agency working for a variety of business, often times it can fall on us to distill the challenges of the client to create tangible marketing goals. Often times, clients confuse business goals and marketing goals. Your marketing goals should ultimately support your business goals, but are more tactical and nuanced.

In my personal opinion there are three main areas possible (outside/in perspective): First: Macro or Market Trends - Staying informed on the latest trends in industry through market research reports and customer feedback. This then might trigger adapting the strategy to meet changing consumer preferences and maintain a competitive edge. Second: Competitor Analysis – Evaluating the competitors' strategies to identify their strengths and weaknesses. SWOT analysis might help the positioning to capitalize on opportunities or address improvement. Third: Performance Metrics - Use key performance indicators (KPIs), return on investment (ROI), customer acquisition cost (CAC) or conversion rates to measure the effectiveness of your marketing.

If you have clarity in your audience, customer journey, and offer, then you can conduct research to identify the best platforms to focus on (Where are my audience hanging out?). Once you have the platform you can begin researching tools to create a tech stack specific to your platform and stages in your customer journey/KPI's. A CRM is great for providing a central point of management for a tech stack, centralising all data across systems. Our customer journey informs KPI metrics so we can choose the correct tools for tracking each KPI and assess performance over time.

In my experience, knowing your target audience is a key element to determining the best platforms to reach them. Research data is readily available for a strategy that includes goal setting and reach for through specific platforms. Once a goal a set, it is easy to measure progress to determine the success of a specific campaign and be decisive about the return on investment of that strategy. There are also numerous tools to course correct, should strategy adjustment be necessary.

First of all you need to know CJM! Through which channels the target audience is used to interacting, where it studies the product, and where bought it. Conduct an analysis of the audience, use research and market cases. And based on these studies, choose the attraction channels that are best suited for your goal. Do you need coverage? You will use some channels and budgets. Need sales? Use others. And of course, we must not forget about the budget, revenue and target indicators of each channel.

Back to fundamentals The old traditional tools to make the competitive platform analysis are very useful The porter 5 forces remains practical tool to understand about the industry, suppliers, customers and market players It helps to let you identify well your competitive advantage and customer segments you target to address The marketing strategy will come naturally out of this exercise however you need here to use the new tools and tactics. It is very important to know if your industry is marketing driven or sales driven too. Marketing makes the organization understand well what’s on the head of the customer. Whether it is B2C or B2B. Start with the analysis, invest time and money in research and you land on the strategy

Depending on the stage of your company, you will have more or less resources at your disposal, this often includes money, systems and people. People: If you are an early stage startup you want to stay lean as long as possible, and invest in your people so they excel at what they do and save you trouble making mistakes. My best advise: invest time in finding the right candidate, it’ll save you ton of time and money later on. Systems: simple, your team needs to be well equipped. It makes them more efficient and in the end saves you money. Money: always budget for more, you can’t predict all the expenses upfront, there is always something that needs a little extra. 20-30% on top is a good bet.

Stalk your competitors! As a business owner/ a marketer- to stay updated with business and marketing trends- stalk your competitors on social media, subscribe to their newsletters, understand what they give out for free- what strategies they use Then use that do it better ??

In the game of marketing strategy, it's not just about what you've got, but how you stack up against the competition. It's like a high-stakes poker game, and you've got to know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. By conducting a competitive analysis, you'll be able to spot your rivals' royal flushes and your own potential full houses. Maybe they're killing it on Instagram while you're ruling the email marketing kingdom. Understanding these dynamics can help you adjust your strategy, double down on your strengths, and bluff your way to the top. Remember, in the end, it's all about playing your cards right and keeping a poker face. ??????

I would never get too caught up in what competitors are doing. To be a leader in any industry, you should always innovate. The trap that is easy to fall in, is to copy competitors rather than compare. What if your competitor is actually struggling as a business? By copying them you’re setting yourself up to fail. The only benchmark you should set in business is against yourself to drive better results everyday. Set goals, set targets and find strategic ways that work for you as a business to reach them.

While it's good to use competitors as a benchmark, we have to be mindful of their business model as well. For example, John, a packed rice seller sells his food at $2/pack. You decided to use a "lower-price" marketing tactic to undercut him at $1.60/pack. John decided to beat you at your game and dropped his price to $0.80/pack, which would mean a loss to you. Little did we know that John supplies to all the schools and restaurants in the area, and his stall was just a means to clear off additional stock while getting customer feedback. In summary, don't just look at the tactic of your competitors, but also the strategy.

Instead of studying your competitor's website, see what they're saying to your target market. If you don't know what message they're broadcasting, you can't have a better message. ?? Check out what ads they're running on LinkedIn (can be accessed on their company page) ?? Check out what ads they're running on Facebook (can be accessed through Facebook Ad Library) ?? Check out what ads they're running on Google (can be accessed through Google Transparency Center)

While meticulous planning, SWOT analyses, SMART goals, and whatever the latest "cutting-edge" competitive analysis method may be, though important to your overall plan, they remain mere blueprints unless propelled by actionable execution. Your aspirations hinge on metrics that are both quantifiable and implementable. By maintaining consistency in your brand message, your marketing endeavors will naturally yield substantial dividends.

Your ability to optimise and identify gaps is ultimately dependant on your data/KPI's. If you have effectively mapped out your customer journey and have clear KPI's mapped out along that journey, you can identify gaps and opportunities. If the click through rate on your social media advert is high, the opt-in rate for your event is high, but the turn out % is low, then the gap is between registration and attending the event. A simple notification/reminder sequence can help. If our organic post engagement was high, our LinkedIn profile visits were high, but our profile engagements were low then the gap is our LinkedIn profile. Testing new headlines, about sections, featured content etc can be AB tested to identify improvements in KPI's.

Gaps and opportunities analysis must be a very big factor defining your strategy. Focus on gaps first, especially if they are more like big holes. List out all the gaps, list out all the opportunities. Spend time with the team to rank and vote. Assess resources achieving each given activity, does it align with your goals, how much value will it add for your customer, how much effect will it have on conversions. If its very expensive, brainstorm solutions that could be a quick fix and quick win, until you get more mature and will be able to afford it running at full scale. Treat it as a test, validation for your idea. Idea is only an assumption, unless it’s tried and tested.

A calm sea never made a skilled sailor. Identify gaps and opportunities for improvement. Based on your comparison, you need to identify where you are falling short or where you can improve your marketing performance and resource allocation. You can use tools such as Ansoff matrix, segment attractiveness and resource strength framework, or customer/strategy/resource matrix to identify potential marketing strategies or tactics that can help you achieve your objectives more effectively and efficiently.

How can you pinpoint gaps in your marketing strategy? Audit your current situation. Define your ideal customer. Analyze your marketing mix. Identify your marketing gaps. Prioritize your marketing actions. Monitor and evaluate your progress.

Marketing analysis (SWOT) and marketing objectives are NOT part of the marketing strategy! This article says practically NOTHING about strategy. The marketing process or plan consists of Analysis, Objectives, Strategy, Instruments (MIX) and Control

I actually think this article is missing a step - an honest diagnosis of the current situation. You need to be able to describe the reality of your organisation’s current needs and challenges. (I'm a huge advocate of the approach described in Richard Rumelt’s Good Strategy, Bad Strategy). After an honest reality-based assessment, the second half of your strategy is the practical approach - what are your solutions and how will you measure success? The most important thing to keep in mind is that a good strategy makes explicit tradeoffs that acknowledge your real constraints. There's no point setting a goal of XYZ when you simply don't have the budget or people to get there.

I strongly suggest that your organization create a “Salesforce Controllable Income Statement” which mirrors the Corporate P & L. Each salesperson should have his/her own P & L which is a collection of all customers responsible for, identifying Net Sales, Gross Margin, Trade Spending, Cash Discounts and Selling expenses which will calculate Income responsibility. Each Salesperson’s P & L rolls up to VP Sales/Manager. All VP’s combined roll up to SVP Sales Nationally and/or Globally. The SVP Global Sales final roll up P & L (Income Statement) matches CEO’s Income Statement. Each Salesperson updates P & L monthly with actual and then forecast customers business every month. Results will be outstanding as all owners held accountable!

Remember to factor in that not everything will go according to the plan, think of 3 scenarios of what, when, how and the outcome that it will bring. And always aim to overachieve than underachieve. This will inspire the team for more in the following year. Good luck!

1. Consider the needs of the addressable market, not the target market 2. Sell a solution--not a product 3. Pivot like nobody's business 4. If it doesn't make dollars, then it can't make "cents" Don't waste valuable time on busy work to prove the usefulness of marketing and communications, especially for low-priced products. Absolutely no one will be anxious about having less promotional emails, DMs, calls, or mail. Dip into the blue ocean ...