I recently came across a really valuable blog post by Brooke B. Sellas, CEO & Founder of B Squared Media, an award-winning social media management and advertising agency. and I would like to share this with you as you consider how you will market your business in the upcoming year. I have edited out part of this for brevity; focusing on the meat of the post. The full post is here.
At least once a year, many businesses aim for a marketing strategy revamp. This is a good best practice. It doesn’t matter how successful your year was — a little reflection and some tweaks will set you up for another showcase year. I like questions that implore you to think. So, the 11 areas I like to look at for a marketing strategy revamp are listed as questions below.
See how many you can answer clearly … and how many make you take pause for next year’s planning.
- What market(s) are you currently pursuing? Are you leaving any out (why)?
- Are you immediately meeting the motivations and needs of your target customers? Why or why not?
- Do each of my products/services have their own unique selling proposition (USP)? Is it clearly stated somewhere? Where?
- Are my product/service USPs “pitched” to each of my target groups?
- How is your company different from others like it; what is your primary differentiation strategy?
- Does my primary differentiation strategy connect with the most urgent motivations and needs of my target customer?
- Is our pricing model creating benefits or negatives for my business?
- Who are my top competitors? What are they doing right/wrong that creates a threat/opportunity for my business?
- Where do we promote our products/services? Is this where our target customers buy?
- What is working the best and what is failing miserably with our current marketing strategy? (Be HONEST!)
- Is there anything preventing us from pursuing/executing our marketing strategy or marketing strategy revamp? What? Why? Who?
Now that your head is spinning, go for a walk. I’ll be here when you get back.
Set Your Goals
Welcome back! If those questions seemed tough, I’m doing my job. These questions are tough for me to answer! Year after year, I struggle with questions 2, 4, 7, 8, and 11. I don’t think you’ll always have the perfect answer or the perfect marketing strategy. Therefore, that’s exactly why you need to plan a marketing strategy revamp at least once a year. When you’re setting your goals, get specific (not lofty).
Remember to do an early check-in to make sure the goals you set aren’t too unrealistic. If it seems like that 15% increase in consultations will be a stretch by the end of Q1, change it to a percentage more in line with how your year is shaping up.
Goals don’t always involve sales. Customer care is a HUGE place to focus on. In any case, your goals come down to the top areas you need to improve on in 2019. Choose them wisely!