How can you create and evaluate marketing strategy alternatives?

Actually, the first and most important thing to do in ANY marketing strategy is understand the psychology of "Why People Buy". EVERY buying decision ever made, by anyone, ever, has been and always will be emotional. They might back it up with logic and reason, but their subconscious makes the decision first. So the question for you as a marketer is, "What would be the REAL underlying reason this customer would buy what I'm selling?" Then position your product or service as the ultimate benefit for appealing to that human need. This thought process should be baked into all your marketing strategy assessments. What are your thoughts on this? If you would like to here read more about this, read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.

Defining your marketing problem or opportunity is like setting the GPS for your business journey - you need to know where you're headed to plot the best route! ?? By pinpointing your objectives, whether it's boosting market share or launching a new product, you're laying the groundwork for a killer strategy. Remember, it's not just about identifying the problem, it's about seizing the opportunity with both hands and running with it! ???? So, let's get laser-focused, find that competitive edge, and show the market what we're made of! ????

Why did the marketer get lost in the market? Because he didn't clearly define his destination! Setting out on a marketing journey without clear objectives is like sailing without a compass. Whether it's increasing market share, launching a product, or improving customer retention, having well-defined goals is crucial. It's like setting the GPS for your marketing strategy. Identifying your target market and value proposition isn't just a step; it's the foundation. It ensures that every marketing initiative is aligned, focused, and poised for success. Remember, in the world of marketing, clarity isn't just king; it's the whole kingdom!

As a LinkedIn marketer and coach, I craft marketing strategies by setting clear objectives aligned with my business goals. I segment my audience for tailored approaches and employ A/B testing to compare different tactics, such as content marketing or paid ads. Utilising LinkedIn's analytics, I measure engagement, click-through, and conversion rates to gauge effectiveness. Regularly updating strategies based on data and trends is crucial. Additionally, networking on LinkedIn offers fresh insights, helping refine and improve my marketing efforts.

You can't create a great marketing strategy without doing marketing research first. It could involve customer interviews or only surveys but you have to diagnose the core problem you are trying to solve. This way you can create and tailor your marketing campaign benefits (and outcomes) for the end consumer.

The straightforward way to vary your marketing investments is to have primary and secondary options. Primary options are marketing programs or channels you'll mainly spend resources on given they've worked before or are most likely to drive the desired results. Secondary options are campaigns and opportunities with marketing that are a bit more risky given they're unproven. Your organization probably hasn't tried these approaches before, so you need to test these options in low-risk ways prior to going deeper. More simply: Primary options are your main investments in marketing that deliver results today, and secondary options are worth testing to see how they perform tomorrow. Both help you create a more resilient marketing strategy.

One of the best ways to create marketing strategy alternatives is by looking at the strategies used in other countries and/or industries. Yes, while those strategies may not always be ideal for your situation, they always serve as great inspiration, and can often be creatively modified to suit your offering and market. Keep abreast by reading online publications and content that showcase what innovative marketing strategies are being successfully executed elsewhere, and hasn't been tried in your market. Then, brainstorm with your team if and how those strategies could somehow be applied to your company, industry and country.

To create and evaluate marketing strategy alternatives, start by generating multiple options to address the problem. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Airbnb faced a sharp decline in bookings. They brainstormed several alternatives, including focusing on local travel, offering longer-term stays for remote workers, partnering with local businesses, and enhancing cleaning protocols. After evaluating these alternatives for feasibility, alignment with brand values, and revenue potential, they chose to focus on local travel, longer stays, and safety measures. By adapting their marketing and platform, Airbnb successfully navigated the pandemic, showing how generating multiple alternatives leads to innovative, effective strategies.

Nothing thrives with marketing more than multiplicity. While the strategy and key idea have to be decisive the channels have to be a variable depending on the response. As a rule of thumb, a marketeer should always be on the lookout for new and cost-effective channels that have not been discovered yet and get one closest to the consumer.

Having a very thorough understanding of who your target customer is will allow you to identify what channels you should be using to get your message across. At Nude Digital, we've always recommended opting for a multi-channel strategy as consumers are quite complex nowadays and a single channel simply doesn't suffice. Moreover, if you want your business to survive 10, 20, 30 years from now, you simply cannot rely on a single source of revenue. Build a funnel that generates awareness, nurtures leads and ultimately converts.

Setting clear objectives can help you understand where you need to start, and which steps to take first. It can be overwhelming to think about implementing a complex, multi-channel funnel, and sometimes, it may also require a big budget (which is not always available). Therefore having a clear idea of priorities is important and will allow you to go for the channels that suit you best at that particular point in time. One thing to pay attention to: don't prioritise quick wins over brand longevity. There are ways to achieve both, even with smaller budgets and limited resources.

To evaluate marketing strategy alternatives, you must assess each option based on clear criteria. For example, Coca-Cola aimed to increase sales and brand engagement among younger consumers. They evaluated strategy options like traditional ads, social media contests, and personalized packaging based on feasibility, effectiveness, brand alignment, cost-effectiveness, and potential to generate buzz. The "Share a Coke" campaign, featuring personalized names on bottles, was chosen for its strong alignment with the brand's image and potential to create social media buzz. The campaign was a massive success, increasing sales and engagement. Evaluating each option ensures you select the most effective strategy to achieve your marketing goals.

As you make progress or failures along the way. Intentionally, evaluate and criticize each step along. Learn valuable lessons that enhance the product sales and be open to reviewing failed strategies for better implementation. Do some maths work and also some qualitative reviews, get feedbacks and customer reviews and RUN with them.

For SMES, I like to use the SMART Principles (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timebound) as a technique for each idea (or marketing strategy) you have found. Using the SMART Principles is an easy way to quickly assess some of those opportunities you found. Sure you can consider both quant and qual aspects of each alternative, like the article suggests, but most SMEs don't have the time or resources to do that. You want something quick but also effective. Set up a grid and use a simple tick/cross against each S,M,A,R,T criteria or use a traffic light system to help assess and score. Later on, you will narrow the ideas or opportunities down to focus on only a few options at a time. That is when you can do a deeper evaluation.

While evaluating marketing strategy alternatives, see each option's long-term sustainability and scalability. Assess how well each strategy can be maintained over an extended period and whether it can be scaled up to accommodate future business growth. Additionally, consider the potential for innovation within each strategy. Strategies that allow for continuous improvement and adaptation are often more sustainable in the long run, ensuring the business remains competitive in a rapidly changing market.

Make sure to define how you will evaluate performance. Based on your short term and long term objectives, work with your team to establish what the ultimate metric will be - in most cases, businesses analyse the Return on Investment. This can be done top level - by dividing the total revenue by the total spend (across all channels), or more granular at campaign/channel level. Other metrics to consider are # of leads, cost per acquisition, cost per lead, lifetime value, monthly recurring revenue etc.

Why did the marketer feel like a chess master? Because selecting the best strategy is all about making the right move! Choosing the optimal marketing strategy is like a strategic game of chess – every move must be deliberate and aligned with your endgame. It's not just about meeting objectives; it's about ensuring your strategy resonates with your vision and values. Implementation is where strategy meets reality, and flexibility is key. Like a chess master, be ready to adapt your tactics, always keeping an eye on the evolving market and stakeholder expectations. Remember, in marketing, the best strategy is one that's not just well-chosen but also well-played.

My motto - always have a Plan B! If your metrics indicate that your strategy (and the laddered up tactics) is underperforming, it is crucial to evolve in as close to real time as possible. Review your metrics / metrics trends and glean your insights. And act!

For the final pick, weigh each strategy's potential ROI, ease of execution, and alignment with goals. Also, draft a contingency plan for quick pivots if your chosen strategy doesn't pan out as expected. Keep stakeholders in the loop to ensure seamless implementation.

I'd insert a step before this if you can ... testing your strategy. Any time you can test all or parts of your plan is an opportunity to see how your strategy is actually going to work (or not work) with your target audience and market. And it could prevent you from spending lots of money on something that's not going to work. Sometimes what feels like the perfect plan just doesn't work like you thought it would, or you learn it needs a small adjustment to resonate more or perform better. Testing allows you to pilot on a small scale so you can better understand how your strategy might perform before going all in with it. ??

It’s a balance between bounded rationality vs logical incrementalism. Bounded rationality defines that you have a set strategy when going to market, stick to no matter what. Logical incrementalism is about taking small steps and figuring it out. In reality it would be balance of the two. You need to be clear on your go to market strategy, but be mentally agile to flex accordingly to the new context of things. At times we assume these could all be external forces, which is not necessarily true. It could even mean a different focus internally which binds the organisation into a bigger purpose and greater synergies. Be agile, be grounded #thisistheway

Take time to research the market and analyse your competitors' activity before jumping into strategy development. Work with your team to define your short term and long term objectives, and establish how you will measure success. Look at your previous and current customers first, to find common threads and patterns in consumer behvaiour. This will make creating an ICP easier. Lastly, make sure you allow time for testing different channels, content types, campaign types and more. Don't be discouraged if some campaigns don't work, but continue testing until you find what works for your brand/business.

With defined criteria, you can evaluate creatively yet systematically to choose the optimal path. This process leads to an optimized strategy choice versus going with first ideas.

First: What problem, gap, or performance metric are you solving for with the alternative strategy? Are you evolving an existing in-market strategy or is this the implementation and execution of your Plan B strategy?

Test, test and test again. The key to a great marketing strategy relies heavily on how agile you are with your testing. Alternatives are great but they will not drive result if you are not able to extract insights from them. In a world that moves fast, marketers should move faster.