I’m always humbled when a client holds back the tent flaps and invites me into their company. After all, no one particularly enjoys hearing from a consultant what he/she could be doing better, but leaders who are driven to succeed know it’s part of the process. Lately it seems I’ve been giving a lot of tough love regarding marketing basics. I recognize there’s a TON of information out there that would have you believe marketing is akin to rocket science, splitting the atom or nailing the chakra bond yoga pose. Truth is, it’s not difficult. Simply follow these fundamentals to create a marketing foundation that will support your business’ growth.
Know Your Product or Service
I’m going to assume you already have this one pretty well nailed down. The key here is that you are 1) offering something of real value that, 2) you can produce or execute uniformly and consistently. Beyond that, it’s imperative that you market truthfully and transparently. Any savvy consumer or business prospect will identify disconnects in messaging and actual service product offerings. Know who you are in your market space.
Know Your Target Market
If you define your market as “everyone,” you’ve got a big problem. While it may seem counterintuitive to narrow (and narrow further) the group of people you want to sell to, the more specific your marketing approach, the more successful it will be. This requires you to really think about who will benefit most from your product. You’ll get a better ROI – and sooner – by targeting a small, relevant audience than a large, irrelevant one.
Know Your Competitive Advantages or USP
No, it’s not the code on the back of a cereal box; it means “unique selling point,” or what makes you different from the other companies out there doing what you do. Do yourself a favor – before you spent a dime on improving your SEO (search engine optimization) or shooting art for a billboard, perfect your USP and make sure everyone in your company understands it. To understand your USP, consider what your customers (your target market) really want, what the marketplace looks like from their perspectives and what specific problem you can solve for them. I repeat, know thyself.
Have a Plan and Budget
You already know the cliché “to fail to plan….,” and yet I encounter many businesses without a marketing plan and budget. Begin with a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), as well as an overview of your business environment. Include what you already determined about your target market and USP and how it compares to your competitors. Then set quantifiable goals and objectives, such as increasing customer acquisition by X percent, selling X number of products, or boosting income by X percent, within a given time frame. Include how these objectives will be measured, as well as a budget.
Know Your Analytics
Marketing today, especially digital marketing, allows you to apply analytics to your spend and in order to determine if you are getting the right balance of results for activities taken. Know your cost per impression, cost per lead, email click rates and sales funnel analytics. Fine tune your results accordingly to make sure your money is being spent to yield results, and you are on top of new digital trends and results!
When I work with clients who are struggling for any number of reasons, one of the first places we start is by revisiting the marketing basics. Who are you? What do you do? For whom do you do it (target audience again)? How are you different (USP)? Why does that difference matter?
If you need help with any aspects of your marketing, let me know. I’m always happy to talk through the challenges you may be facing to help you determine a sound strategy for growth.
