If you want to learn a simple approach to creating a marketing strategy that works, read on!
You can approach the task of marketing your business in a variety of ways. There is social media marketing, email marketing, and video marketing just to name a few. But before you embark on any given method, it’s a good idea to have a plan in place. Creating a marketing strategy is a crucial first step to achieving your marketing goals. Not to be confused with a marketing plan, a marketing strategy will help you define your goals. A marketing plan helps you determine what methods you will use to get achieve those goals.
So if you want your marketing efforts to have an impact on your intended audience, you will begin by developing a marketing strategy!
Why Do You Need A Marketing Strategy?
Ask almost any entrepreneur, and they will likely tell you that making a product or offering a service is only a small part of the battle. Of course, if your customers do not know you exist it’s going to be tough to run a healthy business. Makes sense.
Keep talking, and they will likely admit that they spent a lot of time marketing the wrong way. Whether it’s poorly written copy, a bad video, or ads running in the wrong places a lot can go wrong. Without some direction, you will spend time and money on tactics that don’t work. Do you really want to potentially throw 8-10% of your funds down the drain?
Enter the marketing strategy.
Before you throw your hat in the ring, you’ll need a strategy to help guide you. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be difficult.
5 Steps To A Killer Marketing Strategy
In my opinion, there are only 5 things you need to figure out in order to create a killer marketing strategy! Later on, you can then use this information to make a killer marketing plan.
1 | Decide What You Will Sell
If you are in the beginning stages of your business you’ll need to determine what you are selling. You may decide to offer a product, a service or a combination of both. You’ll want to make sure your idea is profitable and worth your time. So do your research and see what is doing well in the market!
While you are researching, compile a list of the things that look promising. Soon, you’ll have too many ideas to count! You can avoid becoming overwhelmed by picking one to three things to start. I recommend choosing a flagship product and working outward from that. Once you have figured out what you want to sell you are ready for step two.
2 | Identify Your Audience / Ideal Client
Figuring out your ideal client is one of the most important things we need to understand as soon as possible. The easiest way to determine your desired audience is to answer a few questions.
Who do you want to work with?
Who are you trying help with your product?
What is their age range?
What are their interests?
What are their pain points?
These are just some of the questions that can steer you in the right direction. Getting very clear on your target audience/ideal client early on will save you a lot of a headache in the long run.
3 | Figure Out Where They Are
Once you know who your target audience is you’ll need to find out where they are. This will help you avoid picking methods that won’t work when you’re ready to develop your marketing plan.
What blogs/publications do they read?
What social media platforms do they spend their time on?
What shows would they watch on TV or online?
What types of events would they go to?
These questions can help you start to make a profile of your ideal customer!
4 | Set your goals
What is the ultimate end goal for your business? Do you want to supplement your income or do you want it to be your full-time job? How much do you want to gross each year?
What is the ultimate end goal for your marketing efforts? What return on your investment do you hope to see? How many pageviews do you need to make your financial goals?
You can’t improve when you don’t measure. So you need goals to help you determine what works and what doesn’t. Write all of your goals down.
5 | Figure out a budget
Once you have your goals, you can work on a budget. Consider researching others in your industry to see what is reasonable. But don’t feel pressured to spend more then you have! Start with what you can do, you can always raise your budget later when your business grows.
With this in mind, always be on the lookout for free marketing/publicity! That includes social media, writing guest posts, and interviews. If you take full advantage of all of the free or cheap options, you can save your money for bigger marketing tasks like videos, website design and photos.
Ready to take your Marketing to the next level?
Your ideal customer needs to know about you! And with this step-by-step guide, you are beginning the process. Creating a marketing strategy will make your marketing plan more effective. Later you may want to consider working with a marketing consultant or firm. Or you may decide to work with a marketing specialist like me! If you are thinking about adding video to your marketing efforts, I’m your girl!
Very soon I’m going to be writing a post to tell you how to take this strategy and put it into a marketing plan!
Do you have a marketing strategy? Have any tips? Sound off in the comments below!
