A clearly defined strategy is the bedrock of any marketing function, but what are the critical elements and where do you start when you have a new product or proposition to launch? Here, we unpick the essential ingredients of marketing strategy development and what you need to cover before you allocate budget to any campaign activity.
The insight imperative
Too often overlooked or scaled down due to timescales and budget, research and analysis are vital feeders of a marketing strategy. Bypass them at your peril!
Effective marketing is all about knowing your audience, understanding your customers and – whether your business has been trading for two years or 50 – it is always important to cover the research early when setting out your strategy. Surveys, focus groups and online tools can help gather data from your customers and prospects. A competitor analysis is also crucial, as is assessing the industry landscape, to understand trends and opportunities before you dive into your brand positioning.
Establish the purpose
It may seem obvious, but are you crystal clear on why you’re embarking on the rebrand or new campaign in the first place? Agree and define measurable objectives with your stakeholders at the outset and you’ll be far more likely to deliver a successful result and provide the evidence to support it.
Revisit your brand’s founding purpose at this point, too. Does it remain your company mission or has it evolved to something different or broader? This mission is the embryo from which all your brand collateral evolves, so make sure it’s aligned with your new project objectives.
Define your audience
You can only reach your target audience if you know who, what and where they are. If it’s a product launch, what customer needs does it serve and who are the specific decision makers? Building personas can be a very helpful way to identify your primary customers. What type of company do they work for, and across which industries? What’s their job title, where are they based, what are their pain points and who are their stakeholders?
Map this out and you’ll have an easier time creating the messaging and selecting the channels and tactics to engage with them.
Master the message
However big or small your campaign or brand project is, devote time to the messaging development. We’re big fans of the messaging matrix at Wake Media – an indispensable compilation of messaging principles, tone of voice, and short and long-form key messages that get to the heart of the proposition, tailored to your customer groups and containing the keywords you need to meet SEO needs, all in one neat document.
The messaging should encapsulate your USPs and differentiators and be crafted in easy-to-understand but evocative language.
Choose your channels
Channel strategy is the guiding framework that determines how to effectively reach your target customers. It is also ever evolving, as customer behaviour, technological advancements and sales processes are constantly changing, so channel selection must be agile and adaptable.
Integration and customer experience have driven a shift from multichannel marketing to ‘omnichannel’ – meaning, wherever a customer interacts with a brand, the experience is consistent and interconnected. So, consider not just where your customers can be reached but how you will engage them, what their journey will be and how you can leverage your own data and tools to deliver personalisation and achieve ever-improving conversion rates.
Create your assets
Your marketing output is likely to require an array of materials, from articles and how-to guides to ads, videos and podcasts. But before you dive into your creative concepts, look at your website. Your company site is your primary asset and the hub of your online presence and will play a crucial role in serving content for your CTA’s.
It’s essential that your website can be found in search, that it demonstrates your company expertise and has strong branding and clear messaging to support your proposition. When your website contains those ingredients, you’re ready to create the banners, features and photos to furnish your future campaigns.
Test and learn
As important as research is at the starting line, testing and optimisation should always influence your marketing efforts, so you can continually refine your approach based on hard data rather than guesswork.
You can test variables of message, design, imagery and colour scheme and use A/B testing tools to identify the most effective communications and assess landing page variations. This continual testing approach will give you valuable insight to draw on and will help deliver ever-better results and conversions.
Evaluation
Your marketing strategy must serve your business, but how do you know you’re on the right track? There are many ways to evaluate your marketing, but whatever you do, it must link back to those measurable objectives you set at the start.
Does your branding resonate with customers, is your messaging increasing engagement, are website user journeys culminating in goals, are you outperforming competitors in certain areas? The link between effective marketing and an increase in sales can be hard to evidence, particularly when sales cycles are long and multi-layered. Set smart objectives at the beginning of your strategy development and you’ll have the data you need to rate its success.
Ready to kickstart your strategy? Talk to us about a strategy workshop to analyse your business goals and map out your marketing action plan.