Having set the foundation in my previous blog, Four Tips For Marketing Success, it is time to start carefully thinking about how to best capture the essence of what you need to do from a marketing perspective.
One way that may be useful to simplify this complex area is to analyse M, A, R, K, E, T, I, N, G. Yes – I do mean that, let’s just work through it in a really methodical way to help create a place where we can start from.
Getting started
Marketing is powerful, but unless you have really considered who, what, when, where, how – then please just take a breath, pause and consider engaging some external expertise. Look for a marketing professional who can share with you real examples of initiatives they have managed or developed that have resulted in tangible outcomes, Not fluff and BS, real commercial outcomes. Ask them for examples – any marketing professional worth their salt will be able to provide you with this.
Someone (many moons ago) once referred to the marketing department as the “colouring in” department. Needless to say, that wasn’t well-received, but this is the sort of attitude that can exist if you are not able to demonstrate measurable outcomes or results.
What MUST you do when considering the next steps in your marketing activity?
Let’s work through this together –
Measure
If you are not measuring/monitoring your marketing investment (ROI) – STOP spending now! We can only manage what we measure, and to be spending on activity without understanding the return, is not good practice.
Audience
Do you know your audience? Are its needs well defined and real and is it willing to pay for what you can deliver?
Review
Review your sales information, understand your customers, who are the most profitable, most reliable? Who is providing the best referrals and can support your business goals?
Kryptonite
What is your kryptonite? Do you have weaknesses in your offering? Who are your competitors? What is your approach to competitive activity? (and no – price is not the answer!)
Evaluate
Evaluate your priorities – you can’t do everything. Understand your product offering and where you generate the best returns. Can you do more with the same infrastructure? How can you scale? What are the opportunities for growth and how do you prioritise these?
Trust
Trust the data. Businesses generate lots of information – use it. Validate it and trust the data, to enable you to make better decisions. Financial performance, sales performance, product performance and so on, can all be monitored if set up correctly.
Interest
What Interest are you generating? Who is listening? Do you have a sound digital footprint? How are you assessing this and monitoring performance over time?
Networks
Network effects. Often your best promotion will come from your existing networks. How can you leverage this and continue to build this loyalty with your raving fans?
Goals
Growth, profit, team, product. Choose some goals and celebrate when you hit them. If you don’t hit them – learn and adjust. Reset the plan and keep going. Being resilient is one of the main determinants for success. You might not hit the bullseye every time – but you can adjust and try again. If the target is clear, you do have a good chance of hitting it! If you don’t have a target – you sure as heck, can’t hit it!
Understanding your customers
The essence of great marketing is to ensure you understand who your customers are and effectively activate a response from them. Considering the above points will provide you with a helpful framework to establish how you are performing currently.
I would encourage you to reflect on this and don’t hesitate to reach out if you would like to get some insight from an independent perspective. Often a fresh set of eyes and ears can be a valuable inclusion to your business success team.
By Rod Way