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Don’t Get Lost Without a Marketing Strategy!

You’re casually running ads, posting on social media, and sending out an occasional email for your business. That’s great! But, are you being intentional with your marketing? Think about the BIG results you can achieve if you had a written and actionable plan.

Marketing is always changing. What works today might not work tomorrow. The key to staying ahead of the curve is always being on the lookout for emerging tactics, strategies, and ideas to add to your marketing mix. So, if you’re looking for some inspiration, here are 7 things you can add to your marketing strategy right now in 2022.

 

What Will a Marketing Strategy Do For My Brand?

Having a strategy for all your marketing efforts will save you time and money in the long run…and wouldn’t we all like to have extra time and cash on our hands?

  • Align your team to achieve explicit goals
  • Help you make content that ties into your business objectives
  • Allows you to effectively connect with your target audience

 

1. Write Out Your Value Propositions

What are your value propositions? It’s what your brand offers that has value to the lives and experiences of your customers or clients. It’s that unique selling point and feelings that you want your target audience to feel when they’re interacting with your brand. The quality of your products and services affect your value proposition, but customers’ emotions and feelings after they’ve received them influence the value too. Do you want your clients to feel confident, inspired, luxurious when they purchase your product or service? Writing down your value propositions can remind you and employees what exactly you’re doing and what you’re striving for. 

 

2. Define Your Target Audience

You might have heard this a MILLION times before, but we’ll say it again for the people in the back! Defining your target audience is essential to saving time and money for your marketing. You don’t have to try to sell your product or service to everyone. Not everyone is going to find value in what you’re selling. By targeting your audience you won’t waste as much money if you decide to run some ads or your effort when coming up with marketing messages and ideas. 

If you’re already an established brand, we suggest that you use your social media analytics and current clientele demographics to develop Buyer Personas. Buyer Personas are your ideal representations of your target audience. If you’re a new brand and don’t have those resources to work with yet, use surveys and US Census Bureau to gather quantitative data and make qualitative educated assumptions.

Not knowing and understanding your target audiences for your marketing campaigns is like shooting a basketball without knowing where the goal is.

 I’m the same way, marketing without a strategy it’s like getting behind the wheel of your car without knowing how to get to your destination.

 

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3. Define Your Goals for Each Marketing Channel

Write out each channel whether it is Instagram, email, TikTok, and the purpose they’ll bring to your brand. For example, we use our Instagram mainly for brand awareness and we have a working plan to post once a day. Of course, we try to provide sales activation when the opportunity presents itself, but we have other channels that focus on that.

 

4. Optimize Your Channels

Optimize your channels so you get the best potential reach and impressions for your brand. You can optimize your social media channels by using keywords that your audience is using when they search on Google. Add these words to your captions, bios, and website so you’re more easily accessible to new viewers. Here’s a list of other key activities you can do to reach more people:

  • Upload high-quality profile picture
  • Let people know exactly what you do
  • Add location and store hours
  • Use hashtags

5. Keep Track Of Your Resources and Partners

Keep tabs on what programs you’re using for your business. You can cut unnecessary expenses for programs you don’t use anymore. We had a client that had been paying for an email marketing service for over a year and they weren’t using it! The resources and programs you pay for should benefit your business and if they’re not then it’s time to cancel your subscription.

Additionally, keep note of your partners who work with your brand. Set clear guidelines and boundaries of how they will assist you. It could be a third party that’s helping you ship your products or a freelancer who’s helping with social media graphics. If the partner is not following the listed expectations then you might want to rethink the partnership.

 

6. Define Your Cost Structure

Smart business owners know how much they spend each month to keep their business afloat. And we know you’re a smartie pants! Recognize each spending category and make a budget. When making a budget it depends on much you’re making and spending. Based on our profit, we allocate between $250 – $500 on advertising each month. A good rule of thumb is to spend 7 to 8 percent of your gross revenue on marketing and advertising.

 

7. Make Sure You Implement Your Strategy

Last but not least, you got to put your strategic plan into use! Coming up with the strategy is the easy part… executing the plan takes time and practice. 

 

61% of respondents acknowledge that their firms often struggle to bridge the gap between strategy formulation and its day-to-day implementation

 

Businesses fail on the execution part often because they don’t share the strategy with the rest of the team or put it off on the back burner. We don’t want that to happen to you so here are a few ways to implement your strategy:

  • Find ways to track, measure and manage your strategy Use a Work Operating System like Monday.com to integrate and automate your team’s progress.
  • Get everyone on the same page – Hold the team accountable and conduct a meeting to go over the strategy.
  • Embrace change – Create a work environment that recognizes it’s important to allow new workflows and operations in order to achieve your strategic goals. 

Let’s Get To Work!

Let’s get you on track for success this year! The 7 things we talked about today are all simple and can be implemented with a dedication that will help your marketing strategy go from good to great. If any of these sound daunting or like something you don’t have time for, book a 1-hour consultation with one of our strategists and they can take care of it while you focus on growing your business. It’s never too early (or late) to start planning ahead –especially when it comes to digital marketing strategies. Which item did you find most interesting? What is the easiest thing for you to do right now?

 

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Shannon Hancock

Shannon Hancock is B-EZ Graphix's Lead Marketing Strategist who loves helping her clients obtain exceptional marketing results. Her specialties lie in content and social media marketing. When she's not in her virtual office, you can find her outside hiking or painting. Get to know Shannon more when you book a complimentary consultation with her!

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