Key takeaways:
The essential elements that make up a powerful and strategic marketing plan.
How to define your audience, brand voice, and goals with clarity.
Ways to choose the right platforms and tactics that actually work for your business.
We know we talk about the value of a great marketing strategy a lot, but what are the key ingredients to a delicious marketing recipe? If you’ve ever wondered what the core components of a marketing strategy are, this is the post for you!
A great marketing strategy has very clear objectives
Wanna see some very unclear marketing objectives?
👉🏼 We want to get more followers
👉🏼 We hope to increase our reach
👉🏼 We aim to gain 100,000 more leads before the end of next week
Note that these goals aren’t very quantifiable!
Is one more follower over the next quarter what you’d be happy with? It fits the brief for “more followers”, but would you consider it worthwhile?
How much do you want to increase your reach by, and why?
Would you be happy if these leads were leads that didn’t understand your value, or that were based overseas? Is 10,000 leads within a week even possible?
Instead, get specific with your marketing goals. You can incorporate the SMART goal-setting to get you started, which will help you ensure that your goals are:
👉🏼 Specific
👉🏼 Measurable
👉🏼 Achievable
👉🏼 Relevant
👉🏼 Time-bound
Determine your target audience
Are you trying to market your offering to any and everyone? It can be tempting, especially in the early stages, but finding a niche audience and marketing to them is SO much more effective than desperately trying to appeal to everybody.
Enter your target audience personas 💪🏼
Think of these as “characters” who represent your chosen demographic. We recommend between one and three, depending on the scale and scope of your business. For each persona, you should know:
👉🏼 Where are they based?
👉🏼 What age range do they fall in?
👉🏼 What position do they hold within their organisation?
👉🏼 What magazines do they read, or which social media apps do they use?
Don’t be afraid to get detailed and to use your previous, best-suited customers to build your personas. This will help ensure you use the right platforms, the correct tone of voice, and the most effective strategies for the decision-makers you would like to get in front of.
Decide how you would like to be perceived
Do you know clearly what you want your brand to be known for? Would you like to be seen as innovative and creative? Dependable and consistent? Are you most affordable in your area? Or do you offer a luxury, bespoke client experience?
This will help you make so many decisions as a business. What will your tone of voice be? Do you pay extra for the thicker card for your flyers? If you don’t decide how you will be perceived, your audience will decide for you.
Your marketing strategy needs a strong understanding of which channels your target audiences are engaging with
Want to waste a load of time and money, very quickly?
Make a load of noise on the wrong platform for your dream customer!
👉🏼 If you are looking to target pensioners over 60, TikTok might not be the way to go.
👉🏼 Equally, if you want to reach working professionals but aren’t using LinkedIn, you are missing a trick!
Make sure you research and even beta test which platforms align best with your core demographic. Otherwise, it’s a very expensive way to get totally ignored!
Got any more questions for us? We’d love to help! Drop us a line at hello@thebradycreative.co.uk or shoot us a DM on LinkedIn 💪🏼
