Marketing Strategy A guide to writing a marketing strategy for your small business
MGMS001 FEB 2017
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A guide to writing a marketing strategy The definition of a marketing strategy is a plan of action which is designed to promote and sell a product or service. The strategy will then help you to define who your target market is and who your best customers are going to be. This will then give you an understanding of their needs and requirements which will then lead to the implementation of a full thought out marketing strategy. The strategy will confirm where you need to focus your marketing efforts in order to create sales. The Forum have put together this guide on the elements of a marketing strategy and what we believe you need to look at to definite a strategy. This is a long term process and needs to be reviewed on regular basis as your business develops and grows.
Elements of a marketing strategy Having a robust marketing strategy for a business is the ‘showcase’ of a brand. It propositions the business to attract customers, new and old. Businesses will invest in marketing and will have varied budgets dependent on business type and business brands. The right marketing strategy will identify: 1. Who the target market is 2. How you will reach the target market 3. How you will retain and get them to keep coming back The marketing plan becomes a statement of intent and is the road mapping of where you are, where you want to be and how you are going to get there. Having a marketing department follow a planning process will lead to the achievement of new customers and dramatically improve on the success of increased ROI. If the marketing strategy is planned and executed correctly, it will help to achieve focus and establish the vision of the business goals and core behaviours. A marketing strategy should include what is called the ‘4 P’s’ • Product - brand name/ products or services / functionality / packaging / quality / warranty • Pricing - retail price / seasonal price / wholesale price / strategy / flexibility / bundling
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• Place - Distribution centres & channels / inventory mgt / logistics / transportation / warehousing / type of distibution • Promotion - advertising / promotion strategy / sales promotion / PR / marketing budget Along with other fundamentals of inclusion a marketing strategy elements can include: • Description of your market situation – SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities & Threats) • Market research which can include, customer analysis, market trends, competitor analysis, seasonal changes, peaks in purchasing behaviours. • The business positioning and brand statements – band mission statements/core behaviours/brand values • Marketing strategy – product, distribution, pricing and promotions along with plans for retaining customers and gaining repeat business and building brand loyalty (4 P’s) • Marketing budgets • Tactical action plans along with key dates The key sections that need to be including within a Marketing Strategy are defined below and what they would include in the planning process.
An Executive Summary An Executive Summary is completed at the end of the marketing strategy planning and is the final overview of what has been detailed within the marketing strategy. It is a closing statement with a summary and an opportunity for questions if the strategy guide being presented.
Target Customers Define the target audience and complete a customer profiling so that the business is aware of who the audience is; their average age, gender, how far are they travelling to get to your business, what is the most popular product they are choosing, how they arrived at your website and more. Each piece of information becomes a target and a route to market. It is all about the wants and needs of customers, being able to relate to this information and gather as much information from people within the research cycle as you can. Having a clear and identifiable target customer profiling will help to pin point advertising campaigns resulting in targeted campaigns being sent to the right audience.
Unique Selling Points Having unique selling points (USP) are important as it gives standout from competitors, the point must be strong to create attraction to your customers. A USP can help customers make a decision when they are considering making a purchase if the USP simply states why your product or service is different. To stand out in todays crowded market place, you need to be either better or cheaper than your competitors.
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How to define your USP: 1. Decide which product/service you wish to promote 2. List all the main features - quality/service/delivery/price etc. 3. Convert each feature into benefits to the customer and then rank the benefots in priority order 4. Determine if each benefit is standard to all competing suppliers or different and special to you. 5. If all of your benefits are standard, then this will show if there is nothing unique about your product/service. therefore consider how you could develop your product/service in to something which is not supplied by your competitors. 6. Once you have determined the benefits that are different, these will help develop your USP. 7. You then need to decide what your message will be and how to communicate it. Examples of well known Unique selling points: Domino’s Pizza’s USP is “You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 mins or less – or it’s free” M & M’s USP is “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand” FedEx is “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.” It is important to note that no USP will last forever and you should through the process of determining your USP every few years.
Pricing & Positioning Pricing and positioning must be aligned. For example, if your business is a well-known premier brand, if you position yourself with a low pricing structure this could dissuade customers from purchasing. The position that is needed is a pricing structure that supports the desire.
Distribution Plan A distribution plan details how you plan to get your product in to the hands of your customers. Keeping in mind which goods are to be supplied in what quantity at what location in the desired time. If distribution planning is done correctly, it increases efficiency and inventory can be kept under control at the desired level.
Offers & Incentives Offers are special deals put together to secure new customers and to drive customers back over time. Offers can include free trails / buy one get one free/ free days / vouchers and discounts. The business may not necessarily need offers but using them can generally cause the customer base to grow a little faster.
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Marketing Materials Marketing materials are the collateral you use to promote your business to current and prospective customers. Among others, they include your website, print brochures, business cards, and catalogue/point of sale materials.
Promotions Strategy The promotions strategy is one of the most important sections of a marketing plan and details how the business is to attract new customers. There are numerous promotional tactics such as television ads, trade show marketing, press releases, online advertising and event marketing. Regardless of your company’s product or service, a strong set of promotional strategies can help position your company in a favourable light with not only current customers but new ones as well.
Online Marketing Online Marketing: Most people now go online to search for a product or service. As such having the right online marketing strategy can help you secure new customers and gain a competitive edge. The four key components to your online marketing strategy are as follows: Keyword strategy: identify the keywords needed to optimise the website Search Engine Optimisation strategy: document updates within Google Analytics tags - shows up more prominently for your top keywords Paid online advertising strategy: PPC, banner advertising, remarketing advertising, testing Social Media Strategy: social media websites to attract customers – Facebook business page/twitter/LinkedIn advertising, Instagram, Google+
Conversion Strategy Conversion strategies refer to the techniques that a business employs to turn prospective customers into paying customers. For example, a simple improvement on sales scripts can boost conversions, likewise increasing your social proof – showing testimonials of past clients who were satisfied, case studies, and more white papers. You will nearly always boost conversions and sales.
Joint ventures & Partnerships (Affiliate Marketing) Joint ventures and partnerships are agreements developed with other businesses and help to reach new customers or better monetise existing customers. For example if you sold replacement guitar strings it could be that you partner with a guitar maker who had a list of thousands of customers who they had sold guitars to, and who will probably need replacement strings in the future. Think about what customers buy before during and or after they buy from your company. Many of the companies who sell these products and or services could be a good partner.
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Referral Strategy A customer referral program could revolutionise the success. For example if every customer referred one new customer, a customer base would hugely increase. Rarely will you get such growth unless you have a formalised referral strategy. You need to determine when you will ask customers for referrals and what if anything you will give them as a reward for their referral.
Retention Strategy (remarketing) Too many companies spend too much time and energy trying to secure new business versus investing in getting existing customer to buy more often. By using retention strategies such as a monthly newsletters or customer loyalty programmes you can increase revenues and profits by getting customers to purchase from you more frequently.
Financial Projections The final part of the marketing strategy is creating financial projections. For example include the promotional expenses expected to be incurred and what the expected results will be in terms of new customers, sales and profits. Likewise, include expected results from a new retention strategy. Financial projections will never be 100% accurate, use them to identify which promotional expenses and other strategies should give you the highest return on investment. Also completing financial projections will set goals for striving to achieve a good ROI.
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