Do You Really Need a Marketing Strategy?
A marketing strategy is an important part of any successful business or is it?
In this article, we'll cover:
Why do you need a marketing strategy?
A marketing strategy is a path of achieving your goals, but it's not the only way. There are other ways that you could achieve your business goals, such as through customer service or financial investment.
You need a marketing strategy because your company wants to achieve business goals.
You want your customers to be happy and loyal so they're more likely to buy from you again and recommend you to others who might also buy from you in the future. This is what will help increase sales over time; if people don't buy from you anymore then there won’t be any future growth potential for your company because there will be no new customers (and possibly even former ones). But first things first...
What do you want to gain from marketing?
If you want to achieve a certain result from your marketing efforts, you need to know what that result is. What do you want to gain from this? We've listed some of the more common outcomes below:
Who is your audience?
The first thing you should do when starting a new marketing strategy is to figure out who your audience is. Knowing who the right audience is will help narrow down which strategies are best for getting them interested in your product. So before you do anything else, make sure that you understand what kind of people would be interested in what you have to offer and how they can benefit from it.
You also need to know what other companies are doing with their marketing strategies so that you can avoid any overlap and keep up with trends. You don't want to end up with a plan that no one recognizes as being unique or special--and if there's already an established way for doing something similar, then it may not even be worth trying at all!
Finally, consider whether or not there's any value added by adding this aspect into the equation - what makes yours stand out from theirs? Is there anything else about your business model which might make consumers more inclined toward buying from this particular brand rather than another one (eBay vs Amazon)?
What channels will you use for marketing?
The next stage is to consider what channels you will use for marketing.
You need to know where your audience is, but also how much time you have and what kind of budget you have.
The most effective marketing channels for law firms include:
It is important to consider the goals and target audience of your law firm when deciding on the most effective advertising channel. You may want to consider testing multiple channels in order to determine which is most effective for your specific needs.
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When should you start?
It's time to develop your marketing strategy. There is no tomorrow or next year, it is NOW!
Make no mistake: this is not an easy step. You'll have to think about countless details and make many decisions about how you want to position yourself in the marketplace—and there will be plenty of opportunities for mistakes along the way. But if there's one thing I've learned from years of experience, it's that nothing happens overnight.
Marketing does not work like a light switch.
If you wait until everything is perfect before moving forward with your plan, then chances are good that you'll never get started at all.
And believe me when I say that if your competitors are already out there doing their thing while you're still dithering over whether or not they should even be selling what they sell in the first place (which they absolutely should), then by default they're going to beat out yours by default because their products/services will always seem more useful than yours do right now.
How should you start?
Brainstorm
Take a pen and paper and start brainstorming. You can try downloading a template, but believe me, there is no silver bullet for creating a Marketing Plan. It sounds complicated, but it is not.
Put your thoughts on paper (or whatever you prefer for note-taking). A great way to start formulating an idea for your own strategy is by asking yourself these questions:
Categorize
The best Marketing Plan is the one that is created FOR you BY you. Organize the ideas you brainstormed by categories. For instance, separating paid ads plan from the organic engagement.
At this stage, you can transfer your notes into a word doc or an excel spreadsheet.
Take a break and come back to that later.
Define
Once the list is in place break it down into smaller actionable items. What do you need to do for each goal to make it possible?
Prioritize
It's always hard to decide what to start from. My advise - start with the low-hanging fruit. DO the task that is the easiest for you. Why? Because we humans like quick gratifications - once you start you will see some results and will get motivated to do the more complicated tasks.
Just do it
Consistency is key, do small tasks every day and success will follow you.
Marketing Plans do not have to be complicated, but you need one to stay focused.
If you are still not sure how to start feel free to reach out to us at DaVeenci for a free consultation.
Conclusion
A marketing plan helps you decide what your business will do, when and to whom. Without a marketing plan in place, you won't know where to focus your efforts or how best to spend your money on marketing. Good luck!