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What is your current marketing strategy? Which media do you use? Most importantly, how did you decide which strategy would work best? If you’re a startup business relying on “word of mouth”, it’s time to put the power of research, planning and execution to work for you. On the other hand, if you spend a lot of money on media and aren’t achieving the expected result — these steps are for you as well. Take the guesswork out of your marketing with these six universal steps.
1) Identify the Problem or Need
This first step may seem obvious, yet many will come up with “good ideas” that fail to address the root of the problem or fill a legitimate need. Know your customer, your strengths and weaknesses, and your competition first. How is your product or service positioned within your market? After uncovering the root of your problem or identifying the specific need being filled, you can move toward the best solution with confidence instead of hitting and missing with various attempts. Save time, money and your business with this critical step, which in essence is the backbone of your message. Your media will be much more effective at producing the expected results.
2) Define the Audience
Your message might be clever and well produced, but is it right for your customer? Before you decide what to say and choose your media, you need to define who needs to receive your message. This could be a specific age group, social group, geographical region, etc. If you passed step one, this step will be logical. Maybe your audience is broad, or perhaps it’s a very narrow group. There is a plethora of options for each type of media. Once you’ve defined exactly who needs to receive your message, you’re one step closer to exploring which media targets that audience best.
3) Set Your Budget
Now that you’ve identified the problem and defined your target audience, it’s time to manage your resources. It is good practice to allocate a percentage of your forecasted revenue as your marketing budget. While this percentage can vary among industries, 5% is common for maintaining your position within your market and 10% is often considered aggressive. Your percentage may be slightly different, but the objective is straightforward. If you spend much less than this, you may not be doing enough to reach your potential. If you’re consistently spending a lot more, and your growth doesn’t match your increased spending, then you’re allocating too many resources toward promotion. Using the 5%-10% guideline, come up with a figure you can feel good about and stick to it. Once that’s settled, you’ll be prepared to make good choices when choosing your media.
4) Choose Media
Now, the fun part… time to get creative! Remarkably, many start at this step. They see a catchy commercial, a well-designed ad or website and think that same strategy can work for them, rather than considering how unique their situation is compared to other companies. Relying on media to work for you is equivalent to shooting in the dark — with your time and money represented by the bullets thudding into drywall. Media is merely a tool, and it works because you’ve developed the knowledge and skill to produce effective results. So… up to this point, you’ve nailed down your exact problem and understand the specific need your filling. You’ve identified who needs to receive your message, and you’ve set a firm budget for execution. Still, choosing the right path for your message can seem difficult, given today’s extremely broad range of media options. Generally speaking, it is ideal to have a well-balanced media mix. Why? Because different media (video, print, web, etc.) each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Each likely play a daily role in your customer’s lives and even play to different habits or emotions. If your budget allows, you can execute a well-planned strategy through each category of media. Even a very tight budget can utilize the effectiveness of each media’s strength. Can’t afford a broadcast TV spot? Consider a video you can post on the web. Can’t afford your local newspaper? Maybe a niche publication reaches your audience more effectively at an affordable rate. Can’t afford a flashy new website? Perhaps you can simply give your existing sight a fresh look and optimize it for search engines. There are even a number of free services you can utilize to help pull it all together (social networking, email marketing, etc.). Study the strengths and weaknesses of your media options and make an educated decision that maximizes your opportunity for results. It’s all about the message, who needs to receive it, and when the message needs to be received.
5) Produce Your Message
There are a number of local agencies that can help you design and produce your message. When choosing an agency or studio, be sure that you choose someone who takes the time to learn more about you before suggesting the best design or production options. If your budget requires that you do some of the production yourself, educate yourself on what is needed and make yourself a semi-pro.
6) Evaluate Your Message
You have to measure the success of your message. If you spent a $1000, how much did you earn in return as a result of your media investment? Depending on the media you chose, there are a number of ways you can gauge the business generated as a result of your effort. Did you draw viewers to a landing page on your website? Did you reference a specific promotional code in your print ad? Did you receive more online inquires that lead to sales? The bottom line is your bottom line — did it increase? By what margin? These details take time, but the effectiveness of your decisions will perpetually improve, and so will your results. Quantify your efforts.
As indicated above, effective marketing takes a lot of hard work and careful planning. Theses six steps may seem straight forward, but it’s very possible that you’re not applying them with enough attention. It’s all too easy to skip to step 4, go with something “you like” and hope that you somehow notice a spike in sales. Too many products and services seem to do just that — particularly at small businesses already struggling with a short staff. Arguably (and it’s a strong argument), you need to make time for your marketing plan. Start with step one, and you’ll be one step closer to the results you’ve been missing.
Finally, these steps can be applied to any communication problem/solution, from building a product to educating children. Define the problem. Understand the audience. Determine your budget, so you can determine what resources are available for the solution. Choose your tools. Execute your plan. Measure the results. Repeat.
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