What are your goals for 2023? Have you got any or is all too overwhelming?
Creating your marketing strategy may seem daunting, but with these easy steps you’ll feel confident enough to get cracking and write a successful marketing strategy that will give your business the traction it needs to grow.
Make sure your marketing strategy works hard with these top marketing tips. Below, I share my top tips on how to write a successful marketing strategy.
Step 1 – Where are you now?
It may seem obvious but you need to assess where you are now in order to plan where you want to be. Think of your your 2023 marketing strategy a bit like two points on a map; you need to know where your starting point and your end points are in order to plan and take the best route.
So, take a look at your marketing activity over the last year and ask yourself:
- Who have you been targeting? What tools have you been using? What responses have you been getting?
- What were your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and have you met them?
- What are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats? How can you turn your strengths into a stand out USP? Are the weakness a threat? What do you need to do to change that? Get feedback from your staff, customers and suppliers.
- Are there any changes environmentally or legally that have affected you over the last year? Are there any coming up that you need to be aware of?
- What are your competitors doing? Look at their products, pricing, service etc. but don’t get hung up on it. Who says they’re doing it right!
- Look at your customers. Which ones are your most profitable? How are they? Why do they buy from you and how do they buy? Online, offline or both?
- Assess the market place you’re trading in? Are there any trends developing? Any products dropping off?
Action: Start documenting your analysis of where you are now.
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Step 2 – Where do you want to be?
Presumably you want to grow your business, (otherwise I’m not sure why you’re reading this). But you need to be more specific so you’ve got something really tangible to aim for. For example, to grow sales of watering cans by 20% by October 2023 or increase website conversions by 2% by December 2023.
Your goals for your 2023 marketing strategy suddenly become much more realistic than simply saying we want to increase our sales. This makes it much easier to measure and identify when you’ve reached a particular milestone and, if you’re some way from it, what can be changed to alter the course.
Action: Set 5 goals that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, Timely). Remember though, that these also need to link back to your overall business goals.
Step 3 – How are you going to get there?
For your 2023 marketing strategy to be effective, first you will need to define your target audience/s. You will already have current customers and lapsed customers; who are they? Can their profile be replicated and a target for new prospects?
Who are your prospects?
- Target Audience – Identify the customer that will be the most appropriate for your product.
- Segment – How can these be split down in to smaller groups?
- Objectives – What do you want each of these groups to do?
- Positioning – Why do each of these groups want your product? What’s in it for them?
- Use a mix of push and pull strategies to maximise sales.
Action: Create a persona for each audience type. Who they are, where they live, their lifestyle, their income, their education, their hobbies, their buying habits, Company type, company size, decision making process, challenges, goals, how you can help, job title, where they hang out. etc.
Step 4 – How will you actually get there–marketing tactics?
This is the part of your 2023 marketing strategy where you can get your hands dirty! It’s time to start putting actions to your objectives; what channels and tools are you going to use to achieve your objectives and when are you going to use them?
Once you have identified your target audience you can then start to think about where they hang out. What mix of marketing will reach them at each stage of the buying journey? For more information on the buying journey take a look at the blog ‘Is integrated marketing really that important‘ here.
What messages and images will resonate with your target audience? When will they be most interested in your offering?
Action: Draw up a plan that shows the channels, tools, topics and messages appropriate for each target audience.
Step 5 – What needs to be done?
For your marketing to be executed effectively you will need to know who is what when, the responsibilities for each person involved, how they will do their assigned actions (the processes and systems in solved) and if there is any requirement for external agencies.
Action: As part of your marketing strategy include action points for each person involved, KPIs and milestones for review.
Step 6 – Did we do it?
It is essential that each campaign is monitored and measured. This way you can make any alterations required should your marketing start straying off the path or need tweaking. Set weekly and monthly milestones so you can assess your progress and make adjustments.
Look at your website traffic – where is it coming from? What journey are they taking through your site? How long are they staying on site? Which pages have the highest bounce rate? How many conversions are you getting? What is the average order value? How many times do these customers purchase from you?
And that just your website! Take a look at all your marketing activities: Social media ads, email marketing, offline ads, PPC etc. This data will give you the essential information required to develop your marketing and improve the customer experience.
You need to set KPIs for each tool you use so you can analyse what is working, what isn’t and where to direct your marketing spend to maximise your return on investment. Digital marketing is particularly easy to measure buy off line marketing can still be measured but using codes, vouchers, assigning unique phone numbers etc.
Action: Set out your KPIs and start tracking your progress; you’ll be surprised how revealing it is!
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Find out more about how you can make your business thrive…
- Website Design
Does your website need to work harder?
With a joined-up website, you can ensure the customer journey flows from start to finish and provides you with increased lead opportunities from your preferred buyer.
- Content Creation
Do you want to provide your potential and valuable customers with content they will be interested in?
Identify where your content is lacking and make adjustments to optimise your SEO and site stickyness.
- Marketing
Where do you start with marketing?
Don’t let the challenges of modern marketing slow your business growth down. You can grow your business and reach your potential prefered buyer when your marketing strategy is on point.
If you would like to go over anything to do with your marketing, website or content, I’m always here to help you. Simply call on on 01752 393261 or book a complimentary discovery session here.
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