The Core Basics Of Creating A Marketing Strategy
Creating a marketing strategy can be daunting for new business owners and start ups, but it doesn’t have to be as complicated as it may first seem. Creating a marketing plan with the core basics can help you to see what is needed to be done in extension to your goals and ideas. This post will help you to develop your marketing strategy and a solid plan moving forward with your business.
ESTABLISH A TARGET MARKET
One of the key elements of a marketing strategy is determining who your target market is. This is one of the basic principles for a new business to adhere by in creating a solid marketing strategy. Once you determine your target market, you can then open the doors to how to attract those potential customers and what strategy you need to create to ensure you gain as much interest from them.
AREAS OF MARKETING
Once you have established your target market, it is now key to focus on which marketing avenues are going to be beneficial to use when attempting to engage with them. From content marketing, to social media marketing, depending on your target audience, you will be able to establish where you need to put most of your marketing energy into. Starting by trialling all marketing avenues can be beneficial as you can monitor and analyse which ones work best for your business and your audience.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
Analysing your competitors both direct and indirect, is an important element to your marketing strategy and will help you to develop a better idea of what you can bring to your target audience and where you will fit in the market. When analysing your competitors you need to consider every element of their sales and marketing techniques from price point to social media presence.
USP (Unique Selling Point)
Discovering your USP is one of the first things you should do when you start your business. Finding your USP will help you to develop a strategy that your competitors can not compare to, if you get it right. How will your USP benefit your customers? This is an important part of your marketing strategy and is crucial to the success of your business.
BUDGETS
In your marketing strategy you will need to have a budget, making a guide to your finances and expenses is important to your marketing plan and without it you could find yourself spending more money than you have. This element of your marketing plan must be revisited probably once a month to ensure that everything is on track and amendments can be made if necessary. Not only will this help you to structure your marketing campaigns and how much you can afford to take on, but will also give you peace of mind when you need to focus your attentions on more important aspects of the business.
GOALS
Having a clear vision of your goals and forecasting what you would like your business to achieve and how is an important part of your marketing strategy. It is also another element that you will continuously monitor, analyse and make amendments to on a regular basis to ensure that you are on the right track to successfully completing your goals. Having clear goals will not only motivate you and your team, but will allow you to see your successes and your failures, giving you a clear idea on what is working, what’s not working and what you need to change.
These are some of the most important elements to the basics of your marketing plan and strategy. These key areas will help you to further develop your business, and have a live grasp of what needs to be done to achieve success. Your marketing plan will grow and change over the course of your businesses lifetime and will need the initiative of many to develop over time. Overall, your marketing plan should include several components: situation, objectives, value proposition, marketing strategy and tactics to achieve your marketing goals.
