It is no secret that competition in today’s market conditions has flourished with unprecedented force. Large companies and “home” businesses are constantly improving, inventing new features, and adapting to new situations.
The one who slows down does not meet the modern requirements of the audience and thoughtlessly spends his resources, and does not achieve his goals, so he can immediately say goodbye to his business.
Often, companies quickly give up positions due to an entirely wrong marketing approach. If their marketing activities are reduced to irregular advertising where necessary, trivial content on social networks, and ridiculous jokes on Instagram, then such a business is doomed to failure.
And if nothing changes, it’s only a matter of time.
Do you need marketing for business growth?
The first thing you need to understand is that it will not be easy. If you decide to do everything “right,” you will have a long way to go. Brainstorming, insights, analysis, absorbing tons of information, and transforming it into something useful for your business.
Many entrepreneurs abandon this venture, believing that developing a marketing strategy is not necessary if they have already decided to get a marketing plan. Is that so?
You might be wrong if you think one marketing plan will be enough for successful business development. First of all, you require a marketing strategy.
To understand the importance of marketing strategies, you should read examples of essays, a research paper, or a book on such topics. Or you can even find sites where you can order your essay. Then you can say, “Edubirdie makes my essay,” and even use it in your marketing strategy.
The main thing to realize is that a marketing plan and design are different.
- A plan is a list of ways to achieve specific goals;
- Strategy is the definition of the tasks themselves;
The meaning is in the correct sequence: first, we decide “What to do?”, And then “How to achieve it?”. That is why there is a place for both in building a successful business. And before you start a marketing plan, you should work on a strategy.
The basis of the business marketing strategies
When it comes to marketing, what do we talk about first? SEO, SEM, social networks, content marketing, technologies in education, audience campaigns, and email newsletters.
We talk about optimizing landing, increasing conversion rates, choosing the right title or call-to-action, improving click speed, and so on. Yes, it has an important place, but is it the most important thing?
Before starting your business, you need to have a solid marketing foundation. It is the basis of your marketing strategy, which gives you an understanding of your company’s main goals, forms the main messages for the client, and develops a portrait of the audience and competitive positioning.
Only on this solid foundation can you build a strong and profitable business and understand what are the most effective marketing strategies.
Hope for success is not a marketing strategy
Many organizations do not have a marketing strategy at all. Undoubtedly, a small startup has more pressing issues related to the business’s survival than thinking about a marketing strategy of 20-30 pages. But the problem is that even mature companies often can’t boast of a clear strategy when it comes to marketing.
The planned development strategy of your company will be the basis for structuring all your marketing activities. It will significantly increase the clarity and effectiveness of your marketing, as well as help save not only money, but also time.
The main landmark
Perfectly formed portrait of a potential client – without it, any of your marketing campaigns will fail. That is why the analysis of marketing strategy is given so much space. ” How to promote and where to find channels to spend money?” — a secondary matter. First of all, thoroughly study your consumer.
- After a thorough analysis of your audience, you will be able to build successful marketing campaigns correctly, step by step.
- Who is my client? Who am I contacting?
- What do I mean? What do I want to achieve?
- What message do I want to convey to CA? How to influence “your” consumer?
- Which channels will be most effective for this?
- How can I analyze campaign results?
Every entrepreneur knows you need to “dream big” and set big goals. You probably know the answer if you are asked what your business will be like in two, five, or ten years. Of course, long-term planning is one of the main principles of running a successful business, but we forget another equally important point.
Marketing strategy determines the course of development of the company, and its leading global goals, but also involves setting short-term goals that will gradually lead the business in the right direction. Thus, at each stage, you will clearly understand what has to be done to achieve a particular result.
Unimagined success stories
The adequately designed marketing strategy will be the “locomotive” of your business, setting it in motion and pushing forward to the intended goals. A good plan will help you achieve incredible results.
Look at the world market leaders. They understand WHO their consumer is and WHAT he needs. They have identified their main message and adhere to it in their marketing campaigns.
Think different
Even 20 years ago, Apple realized that they were not just selling quality technology but creating a society of people who value the best, who think differently than others and can change the world. Then, in 1997, an advertising campaign, “Think Differently,” was created.
Steve Jobs once said that if all the famous people ever used a computer, it would be a Mac. And it had just a significant impact on the audience. The ingenious strategy has led Apple to what it is now and continues to work effectively even after 20 years.
Just do it
Nike knows its consumer and understands what he wants. They don’t talk about how cool their sneakers or T-shirts are. They show what sporting heights each of us can reach. Furthermore, they bring us closer to the stars of world sports and say: “Hey, you will do it!”.
Such a simple but effective strategy runs through all their advertising campaigns. They don’t sell. They motivate. And it works!
Holidays are coming
Coca-Cola offers its consumers a warm “emotion,” not a product. All company marketing activities are built on a fun pastime with family and friends. They give the feeling that you should open the bottle, and immediately there will be a feeling of celebration.
Four stages of business
Moreover, to properly apply marketing strategies, you need to know about the stages of the business.
Stage 0. Analysis of the market and competitors
A deep understanding of your product, audience, and the market will come in handy in the following steps. What to look for?
- Competitors’ products:
look at them through the eyes of the user and evaluate the functionality. What do they focus on that is remembered in their products? What is monetization? What messages are used in communication? Go through and analyze the path of both free and paid users;
- Competitor marketing:
please pay attention to the sources and volume of traffic, funnels, keywords, creatives, and how often they are updated;
- Market:
Market analysis is a reasonably straightforward task. It is worth paying particular attention to which countries are growing competitors and which are not;
- Audience:
try to find sociological research to understand why people buy a product or are interested in this topic. You can conduct interviews with users and qualitative and quantitative surveys;
Stage 1. Start MVP and search for the unit economy
At this stage, marketers can be trapped if they rely only on insights to analyze the actions of competitors.
During the launch of the MVP, the first tests should identify the weaknesses of the funnel, understand what the CPA will be like, whether there is a chance that the unit economy will come together, and what concepts in creative work best. But what to do after getting the first results and collecting product metrics?
Stage 2. Scaling
How should I purchase traffic at the scaling stage? First, connect new channels. Here it is essential to do everything gradually. Otherwise, you will be unable to analyze assisted conversions and uplift, the cumulative effect they give.
Second, test new localizations – this is one of the easiest ways to scale, but before that, be sure to analyze the new market.
Stage 3. Maintaining leadership positions
It is impossible to grow by attracting new users constantly. It is necessary to increase their loyalty and, as a result, strengthen their leadership position. The solution to this problem is a strong brand. There are three components.
- Product brand – works to increase sales and audience loyalty;
- Employer brand – improves the quality of hiring, which strengthens the team and the quality of the product, respectively;
- Personal brand – works with audience loyalty and sales and helps attract more partners and collaborations;
Conclusion
Try to do what no one else has done to you. At least in your niche. If you learned about a trend from the article, you are late. You need to play ahead and be a creator of trends and new approaches. Then you can find a unit economy, scale, and maintain market leadership.
Developing a marketing strategy will help you better understand your audience and its desires, determine the place of your business in the market and give a clear direction for moving forward. It would be best if you did not waste precious time on mistakes and uncertain actions at random. Get inspired, act decisively, and create your path to success!
