Essential Marketing Guide For Your Business

Do you still think that marketing is about advertising, promotions and social media?

Well, you are right, tactical marketing includes advertising, promotions and social media, however, the real power of marketing is when you implement the strategic approach to it.

A sound marketing strategy with methodical and consistent implementation increases customer retention, accelerates growth and helps to future proof your business.

Marketing is all about what you say, to whom, how and where. For that reason, to create effective and profitable marketing you need to spend your time wisely:

33% Research, Analyse & Diagnosis - What's going on?

As Philip Kotler said: "The aim of selling is to satisfy a customer need; the aim of marketing is to figure out his need".

A successful marketing strategy starts by reviewing performance. This is the performance of different areas of your business (i.e. customers, products, channels, etc.), the market, competitors, customers behaviours, etc.

33% Strategy – Where are you going?

Objectives and KPIs: What are your 3 strategic objectives? When will you achieve them? How will you measure success?

33% Tactics – How are you getting there??

Once you know where you are and where you want to go, then you need to identify how you are going to get there. This could be from introducing a new product or service, reviewing your pricing, to using social media to reach to your customers. Maybe you need to reposition the role of telephone order takers as tele account management. Change your website from a product feature bank to a learning hub.

In order to easily identify where to move, you need to take into account the 7Ps of Marketing:

Product?(or service) What are you actually going to sell.

No matter how you position yourself as a brand, your product or service is always going to be at the centre of your strategy and therefore it will influence every aspect of the marketing mix.?When you think of your product, consider factors such as its quality, specific features, packaging and the problem that it will solve for your customers.?

Place: Where do you need to present your product / service for it to be found by your customers? (e.i. TikTok or LinkedIn - Supermarket Shelf or Boutique Store)

There are many places and ways that businesses can sell. So ‘place’ doesn’t?just?refer to a physical location. It could mean selling via a website, catalogue, social media, utilising trade shows and, of course, brick and mortar stores. ‘Place’ encompasses each and every distribution channel.

Price: Is it the right price? How can I move from price conversation to service conversation?

The price you set, should reflect your customer’s perceived value of your product, and be set in a way that ensures you turn a profit. Pricing has a huge impact on the success of your business and it can impact your marketing strategy, sales and product demand.?

6 common pricing strategies:?

Price skimming:?setting a high price for your product and then gradually reducing the price over time.?

Competition-based pricing:?evaluating the prices set by market competitors and placing your price either slightly higher or lower than the competition.

Economy pricing:?setting prices that target buyers who seek a low price or bargain.

Premium pricing:?setting a high price tag on your items. This strategy requires ensuring that the product or service itself is of high quality before you give it a ‘luxury’ label.?

Value-based pricing:?setting a price based on what a customer is willing to pay - what they believe your brand and your product is worth.?

Cost-plus pricing:?this method is solely based on what the cost of producing your product is and then adding a markup so that you aren’t selling at a loss.

Whatever your pricing strategy is, ensure that it’s in line with your brand, it’s a price that your customers are willing to pay and that you can make a profit. It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on the wider market, the economy and, of course, your competitors.?

Promotion?(where social media, email, etc.)

Whether it’s direct marketing, PR, advertising, content marketing or in-store pitching, promotion is what most businesses see as marketing.?

Promotion means raising awareness of a brand, product or service within a market; telling a story to encourage consumer engagement. Promotional strategies work on multiple levels. They raise brand awareness, increase sales and generate revenue. Why should someone purchase from you over your competitor? How will you solve their problem or enhance their life???

You need to answer questions like these:

• Where is your audience able to find you? Online or in a physical store??
• Does the time of year affect your business? If you only sell swimwear or, in contrast, you only sell Christmas decorations you need to take this into account when developing your strategy.??
• What is your?brand personality??The type of identity you have will inform your promotional messaging and design. Do you portray yourself as down to earth, professional, playful, sincere, exciting??
• How do your competitors promote themselves? Analysing the promotional strategies of your competitors, or wider market trends will help to inform your own strategies. Consider regularly?conducting a SWOT analysis?so you can really take a deep dive into your own tactics and the market competition.

Common promotional strategies, for marketers, come under two categories.?Traditional and digital.?Traditional marketing refers to print media, broadcasting, direct mail, billboards and posters, and referral, i.e. word of mouth. Digital methods mean email marketing, social media promotion, content marketing,?search engine optimisation (SEO), mobile marketing and paid advertising

Physical Evidence?

Marketing takes into consideration everything that your customer experiences along their?journey with you?- from the very beginning when they’re just becoming aware of your brand, up to the point of sale and beyond.?

Physical evidence encompasses the overall existence of your brand. Think website, branding, social media, the logo on your building, your store’s decor, the packaging of your products and the post-purchase thank you email. All of these elements offer your customer the physical evidence they need to be certain that your business is viable, reliable and legitimate.?

People

People, refers to anyone involved in selling a product or service, designing it, marketing, managing teams, representing customers, recruiting and training.?

It’s critical to the success of your brand, and the satisfaction of your customers, that everyone who represents the company (including the chatbots) are polite, professional, knowledgeable and fully trained. Employees need to be able to solve the problems that customers have so, as a business, you need to offer training, good working environments and anything that will safeguard the engagement and well-being of your employees.?

Processes

So you have a product and you have your target audience. How do you deliver the product to the customer? This in-between aspect can be called the process.?

It involves how your business runs, how the service is delivered, how the product is packaged, how your customers move down the sales funnel, checkout, shipping, delivery, etc. Essentially the process describes the series of actions or the fundamental elements that are involved in delivering the product or service to the customer.?

The more seamless and personalised your processes are, the happier your customers will be. If you have a product that’s of good quality, chances are you won’t hear any complaints. But there are so many different pieces of the process puzzle that you have to consider in your marketing strategy.

If you feel a bit overwhelmed by all this information.

Here is a quick guide to make marketing really work for your business.

"Authentic marketing is not the art of selling what you make but knowing what to make" _Philip Kotler

1) Market Dominating Position (MDP).To identify and clarify your MDP you need to understand:

a) Who?is your customer?

b) What's the problem they have (and they don't want)?

e) Why your customer should take your solution?

c) What's the solution?you offer?

d) Why your method is the best?

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars." –Les Brown

2)?Objectives and how to measure success.

To know what you want to achieve and how you will measure it, is the key to keep on route.

1. Evaluate the previous year
2. Analysis changes in market, customers, competitors, etc.
3. Setup 3 Goals (S.M.A.R.T.)
4. Create a simple dashboard to track and review them at least once a month.

“Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first.” –?Wendy Piersall

3)?What activities will get you there??

Unfortunately, there is no one size fits all, but to increase your success on organic (not paid) marketing you can be safe if you focus on these three:

1. Writing marketing messages that resonate with your audience.
2. Creating content to educate your customers in the different stages (i.e. gathering information, comparing solutions & evaluating suppliers).
3. Bringing your followers to your email list.

Below you will find our free resources to help you to make marketing really work for your business.

Strategic Business Planing Made Easy

How to Win More Customers Without Spending More