Busting The Marketing Myth – Strategy First

All businesses need marketing. Whether it’s word of mouth, a website, or social media; the world won’t know about your business unless you tell them.

Marketing your business sounds so simple in theory, and yet we know just how overwhelming it feels. Let’s take a look at why marketing feels so scary and how to take the first steps to a positive marketing experience for your business.

Common Marketing Myths include:

• I have to be on social media and I don’t have the time.

• Marketing costs a lot of money and I don’t have any.

• Marketing is only something that big businesses do.

• Marketing has failed in the past and won’t work in the future.

All of these statements are WRONG. We’re busting open the scary Marketing Myths and delve into the most essential part of Marketing – The Strategy or your Marketing Plan.

Information needed to develop your Marketing Strategy

The day to day hustle of business means that sometimes businesses miss the big picture. It’s time to step back and get down to basics. To create an effective marketing strategy and marketing plan for your business, there’s some basic information you’ll need to know.

Use these questions as a guide to delve into your business:

1. Where does your business sit within the larger marketplace? What problem are you solving? What is the larger industry you serve? Who are your competitors?

2. Who is your ideal customer? Who have been your best or favourite customers in the past? Why do they choose you? How could you make their experience even better? Where can you reach them the most easily with your marketing message?

3. What is your competition doing? Are there any changes within the industry that threaten or offer opportunity for your business? Do you offer anything unique in comparison to competitors? Are your competitors/industry evolving or stagnant? What threats do your competitors pose to your business?

4. If you already have a website and/or social media, dig into your analytics. How are customers finding you? Which social media posts do they interact with the most? Which pages of your website do they spend most time on? What keywords are they using to find you on the web?

These questions make a great starting point, but you should use any statistics you have available to you, ask your staff, partners, even your customers about their experience with your business.

The more information you can gather about your business in its current position, the more prepared you are for creating the message that will be most efficient for growing your business in the future.

Using Information to Create a Marketing Plan

Once you’ve gone through and asked the important questions about your business, the time comes to develop a plan and strategy based upon the information you’ve gathered. Next steps include:

1. Refining your brand message: What is your brand, what does it represent? Are you really sending the right message?

2. Is your website working for your business? Websites are vital for so many reasons, but so many businesses fail to create a website that converts visitors into customers. Usability and conversion optimisation will be based upon the answers you discover by answering the questions above.

3. Digital Strategy only as part if the mix. Digital is great, but it should only be a part of your Marketing not all of it. Options include SEO, Email Marketing, Directories and Online Advertising. Finding the right blend is important.

4. Offline Marketing Isn’t Dead. Be sure to create offline marketing that matches your online marketing and branding, be professional and understand the advantage of networking offline.

We’ll be covering these topics more deeply in future blog posts, and look forward to helping your business create an effective marketing strategy and marketing plan. Our goal is to bring you actionable steps to help you understand the world of marketing and help you to grow your business.