One reason why marketing campaigns fail is because three crucial steps have been by-passed.

It’s an easy mistake to make and one that often happens without you even realising it.

To understand why this mistake has occurred, you need to know the difference between Strategic Marketing and Tactical Marketing.

Simply put, it looks like this:

Strategic Marketing v Tactical Marketing
Strategic marketing focuses on:

  • WHO – is your ideal customer?
  • WHAT – problems do they have that you resolve?
  • WHY – should they do business with you rather than anyone else?

Tactical marketing focuses on:

  • HOW – are you going to communicate your message? This is your marketing tool box, which includes your website, social media, networking, exhibitions etc.
  • WHERE – are will you go to find your ideal customer? This includes on-line and off-line. Which locations i.e. town, county, country? Which Social media groups and forums?
  • WHEN – Time of day, time of year, season or event specific. Using your own time efficiently; scheduling tools.

Avoid this marketing mistake

Disappointing results from marketing efforts occur because taking action, as described in the tactical marketing section, comes prior to spending time thinking through the strategic marketing questions.

It results in a scatter gun approach, poor outcomes and wasted time and money.

So, the way to improve marketing results is to first focus on strategic marketing; nailing down the WHO, WHAT and WHY questions.

STEP 1

Who…is your ideal customer?

It’s tempting, particularly when starting a business, to want to sell to everyone. You don’t want to narrow down your opportunities and feel it’s a numbers game; you need to reach a lot of people to have a chance to win enough business.

However, this strategy of reaching out to everyone is creating a lot of hard work, with a much lower chance of success and it’s costly. Your messages will be too general and won’t get you noticed.

There is a much more effective strategy and that is to target a specific group of people with similar characteristics, issues and needs.

Your ideal customer stands out from the crowd

STEP 2

What…are the problems that you resolve?

When you concentrate on a specific target audience, you begin to really understand their issues and how to solve them. You need to be talking about their issues to attract them, because as yet they don’t know what the solution is (your solution!).

With knowledge of their specific needs and what motivates them to take action, you can adopt their language and use relevant examples and stories that will resonate with them.

You can adapt your products or services and even brand them so they are unique to you and your business. This allows you to differentiate yourself from the competition.

You become the ‘must go to person’. You stand out from the crowd.

How to attract your ideal customer

If you feel that you could be more specific about who your ideal customer is, download my eBook ‘How to attract your ideal customer’. This contains practical exercises that will help you answer the Who and What questions.

STEP 3

Why…should they do business with you rather than your competitors?

There are 5 elements to this question. When you have completed them, you will have developed a clear set of compelling reasons why you are the must go to person.

The 5 elements are:

  1. About You – what makes you special, because you are!
  2. Products and Services – how have you adapted or tailored them?
  3. Price – It’s all about the value you give.
  4. Customer Journey – how do you wow your prospects and customers at every step; from when they first become aware of you to when they are an advocate singing your praises and recommending you.
  5. Corporate Social Responsibility. In the SME world this means: How do you show you care?

These elements form your company positioning statement (sometimes called a benefit statement).

Summary

The 3 steps to take to improve your marketing results are defining:

  1. WHO is your ideal customer?
  2. WHAT problems do they have that you resolve?
  3. WHY should they do business with you?

If you would like help to develop your marketing strategy please email me or call on 07565 382803.

Marketing coaching might just be the answer!