Marketing strategy for many is like sticking a finger in the air to test the winds of marketing opinion. But that isn’t a strategy. The other issue that many come to marketing after hearing a particular buzz word like SEO, social media marketing, agile marketing, click funnel, etc. and then think that is what I need also. This is what is actually called marketing tactics. You might still find business success but again this isn’t marketing strategy.
Think of marketing strategy like a game book, a stratagem for marketing. If we take this analogy and apply it to football, the goal would be the end zone. Your team would then have specific people to block certain players from touching the quarterback, other players to fake a run, and others to run a specific line that you are going to throw. The quarterback knows to throw to that specific spot on the field. In a similar sense, your business goal is to grow revenue. The football is like marketing funds that you are handing off to a specific tactic to enable business growth. So as you employ different tactics you might think of how is the company advancing toward growth.
Set a goal for your business as to a measure of success. According to the Small Business Administration, most businesses fail within 5 years. In addition, the government deems a business not making profits after 5 years as a hobby. Apparently, the 5-year mark should tell us whether this is a viable business. If you are a new business just starting out this might begin with a tangible amount of money that year 5 should be to keep you operating. If you are an existing business you may want to set the next 5 years with tangible realistic goals.
Set tangible realistic goals for better success in your marketing efforts. Tangible realistic goals are important because they provide us with a measure of success that is meaningful. Based on the previous success and future objectives, I can adjust my marketing for both long-term and short-term goals. Let’s apply this.
Say you are a business owner that has a gross revenue of $1 million dollars. Last year you managed to grow from $750,000 which is a 33% increase in gross revenue. If your aim is to grow to $1.5 million, a 50% increase in revenue, you would have to ask yourself how am I achieving those goals? Next, you would choose the marketing approach that would support that kind of growth. For instance, SEO/content strategy is a powerful tool, but it can take time to build. It might be better to still use SEO for a long-term approach but use paid advertising to achieve a quicker return to support the short-term goal.
Starting a marketing strategy really should be defined by business objectives. A company can set a goal and then begin to define how they are going to grow to that number. A strategy like this takes time, effort and thought. It shouldn’t be based solely on marketing but include other factors such as products and services, staffing, operating, etc. If we are to approach marketing with a business goal and then build it out based on objectives then the result of marketing can have a successful outcome.