A marketing strategy is a plan to reach your ideal customers and achieve your business objectives.
You need one, because if you don’t have a strategy, your marketing will turn into a hodgepodge. They will not collaborate to help you land your ideal clients.
With a clear strategy, you can laser-focus your marketing effort to get the right message to the right people. You will have more sales, more growth.
How to Develop a Marketing Strategy
There’s no need to feel overwhelmed when crafting a marketing strategy. Follow these steps:
1. Define Your Target Customer
Get super-clear on who your best customers are. Get specific on details like:
- Demographic such as age, gender, income level, education, etc
- Interests and hobbies
- Values
- Pain point or problem they are facing
Once you intimately understand your target customer, making contact is simple.
2. Establish Your Goals
What do you hope to achieve with your marketing?
Goals include but are not limited to the following:
- Generate more leads
- Increase brand awareness
- Grow revenue
- Interact with customers through social media
Ensure that you set SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound – goals. This keeps you focused.
3. Outline Your Strategy
Now you can go about assembling your game plan.” Ask yourself:
- What platforms and channels will you sell leave your product on?
- What type of content and messaging will you provide?
- How does every piece of content and every marketing job ladder up to your goals?
And map it all out into one cohesive strategy.
4. Plan Your Marketing Calendar
You have a strategy, a calendar helps you run with that strategy. Map out each and every one of your marketing activities throughout the months and weeks.
Seeing it presented like this helps ensure that you’re consistently putting out content/posts and executing campaigns, rather than work occurring haphazardly.
5. Track and Optimize
Track everything as you run your marketing strategy!
Pay attention to:
- Sales and leads generated
- Organized by Other Participation and Clicks on Social Media
- Website traffic
- Conversions from campaigns
Then apply what you glean to improve your strategy. Double down on what works, and adjust what doesn’t.
Marketing Strategy Examples
Not sure what a good marketing strategy actually looks like? Here are some examples:
Content Marketing
In content marketing you produce valuable assets such as blog posts, videos, podcasts, etc to attract and engage your target market. This tactic focuses on attracting people with relevant content that you post consistently.
Social Media Marketing
Utilize social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to engage with existing and prospective customers. You can share your content, run ads and engage your audience where they spend their time online already.
SEO
SEO, or search engine optimization, gets your website found when you or potential customers look for your products or services on search engines like Google. These tactics can range from keyword research and optimization to link building and beyond.
Email Marketing
Make an email subscriber base and draft regular newsletters, promotions, etc. to send out emails to nurture leads and retain existing customers. Just make sure you have permission first!
Final Thoughts
When you have the right bait and you place it right where your customers are, you’ll get them to bite and reel in more business than ever before. Then sit back and watch those profits flop onto your boat!