Identifying Your Marketing Strategy

By: Mary Ellen Bost

Owner, Savvy Social Media Marketing

As we move into 2013, the role of social media marketing has become an even more popular way to engage and communicate with current and potential customers.

Regardless of what particular marketing avenues you choose to conquer, before you head to battle, you need a plan of action. You have to determine your company's marketing strategy. And in order to do so, there are certain things a company MUST CLEARLY define about themselves, their customers and competitors. As it will be this information that you rely upon when determining your overall strategy. 

For those of you who already have a brand strategy- hopefully this post can give you a few ideas to make it stronger and more effective.

A little background: around the time I began my career in advertising, I hit the stage where all of my friends started getting engaged and getting married.  So, that meant throwing wedding showers, bachelorette parties and not too long after- baby showers.  

I was always (happily) in charge of creating all of the party invitations.  Looking back- I can definitely see how creating all of those invitations may have influenced the ways I help clients identify their target audiences, the best advertising mediums to reach those customers as well as the types of messages that would resonate best with customers.

Everyone knows that when you are making party invitations- you have to provide the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and the How.  Answer those questions and you have given each invitee all of the information they need to decide if the want to attend, where and when it is, etc etc..

Asking and answering those same questions in relation to your business, can also help you create your marketing campaign.  How?  I will explain below. 

The "Who, What, When, Where, Why, & How" of Marketing 

1. WHO?
WHO are the people who need to know about your business?  WHO is your target audience?  
If your phone were to ring right now- ideally, who would it be?  Describe them.  By answering the question above, you are clearly identifying individuals who, if become customers- will increase your bottom line. This obviously also applies to former, new, current &prospective customers. Basically, your target audience and demographics.

2. WHAT?

WHAT message do you want to send to them?  WHAT do you need them to know about your business?  WHAT products or services do you have?

And furthermore,  WHAT do your CUSTOMERS WANT? 

3. WHEN?

WHEN is your busiest season?  Your slowest?  What times of the year do you need to focus on attracting new customers.  Identifying these factors on your calendar.  It will help you plan your marketing budget and schedule.

4. WHY?
Why should a customer choose to do business WITH YOU over your competitors? This is not something that you have to say in any advertisements…but you need to know how and why you are better than your competitors. Period. And if you are lagging behind them- what can you do in-house to change that?

5. WHERE?
WHERE are they advertising and reaching their customers? WHERE are they located? Would doing business with you be more convenient? Or Vice Versa?

6. HOW?
HOW are they advertising? How is their business? How are they treating customers? KNOW your competition. I guarantee they know you and are capitalizing on your shortcomings.

It is crucial to know how you measure up to the people who are competing for the same customers. If you are not doing this, you are doing a major disservice to yourself and to your customers.

Answering these questions won’t create a marketing strategy for you out of thin air. But it will however, help you identify your goals and determine what information you need to focus on sending out to the public.

Cheers!