It’s one thing to start a business and another to thrive. Indeed, you need customers to keep your business alive, and what better way to attract them than through marketing? The right marketing strategy can create a lasting impression in clients’ minds, encouraging them to patronize your products and services. Moreover, your customers are aware of what to expect from your brand. Despite its benefits, the wrong strategy can have the opposite effects, as you can annoy your clients. Therefore, choosing the right option is necessary. Here’s a helpful guide to choosing the best marketing strategy for your business.
Define your brand value
The first step to your ideal marketing strategy is defining your brand value. Your brand value refers to the foundational beliefs your business is built on and are essential to your brand’s core identity. Your brand value must align with what your clients deem important, your industry trends, and your products and services. Statistics indicate that 89% of customers will stay loyal to companies whose brand values align with theirs, crediting its importance. Defining your brand value may not be easy, but you can get the desired outcome with the right steps. You can begin by brainstorming with your staff, encouraging them to write down at least 5 things that your company stands for.
Seeking positive and negative reviews from your customers can also help you discover what your brand promotes, so feel free to consider this. As a tip, ask questions like: “what made you choose our brand?” or, “what do you think we excel at?” These questions can provide more insights, so keep this in mind. When defining your brand value, ensure that it’s precise and sincere- avoid vague statements that leave room for interpretation. Consequently, ensure that it sets your business apart from the competition. Also, make it catchy and memorable so that it stays in your clients’ minds for a long time.
Consider your customers’ pain points
Your customers’ pain points refer to specific problems they may be facing in the market, and identifying them can be a great way to create a winning marketing strategy. Pain points can be categorized into four main types; financial, process, support, and productivity. Unfortunately, many businesses fail to impress their customers because they don’t offer solutions that address their needs at that particular time. Therefore, certain reevaluations, such as measuring board effectiveness are often warranted. That said, prioritizing your customers’ needs and desires become imperative. You should note that not all clients would immediately identify their pain points. Although this may pose a challenge when marketing your goods and services, it will be worth your while.
You can begin by conducting extensive qualitative research to understand what your clients expect from you. As a tip, listen to frequent customer complaints, as you can get insight into the areas to work on. For instance, setting up a chatbot on your website can work well if your clients frequently complain about delayed support responses. Review sites and surveys can be resourceful for getting the needed information, so keep this in mind. Also, research your competitors in your niche and fish for loopholes. You can then improve on these loopholes to meet your clients’ expectations.
Determine your target market
You may have an innovative product that would address consumer needs. However, your marketing can either draw your customers in or repulse them. Therefore, it’s essential to identify your target market to help you draft the right strategies. This way, you can effectively get the attention of your potential clients without wasting money on ineffective marketing techniques. Moreover, you can learn something from them that would help you tailor your products and services to suit their needs.
You want to begin by ascertaining their demographics; age, location, gender, lifestyle, values, income, and behavior. Consequently, check your analytics to see what kind of content appeals to your target market. Studying your competition can also help you understand your target market and what kind of marketing strategies appeal to them, so keep this in mind.
Identify your marketing channels
Fortunately, technology has made room for more effective marketing channels, and it will be in your business’s best interest to leverage them. However, each marketing channel has unique marketing campaigns, so keep this in mind. Therefore, picking options that suit your product and brand is essential. For instance, social media is an inexpensive and effective way to reach a large audience in the shortest possible time. However, platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Pinterest are ideal for visual ecommerce products, B2C businesses, and Gen-Z companies. Likewise, B2B companies work well with LinkedIn and Angellist, while written-content businesses prefer Reddit, Quora, and Medium. You can market your brand on social through top-quality content, paid ads, and influencers.
Email marketing is one of the most effective marketing channels you can leverage; you only need to use the right tips. For instance, you want to avoid sending product promotions all the time. Instead, switch to educational or informative content that would add value to your clients’ lives. You can also create email flows to address cart abandonment, welcome new clients, etc. You can also pair email marketing with push notifications to achieve the best results. Invest in SEO to put your website on top of Google SERPs and increase engagement. As a tip, ensure that your website is user-friendly to reduce your bounce rates. Your distinctive brand assets, like your logo, packaging, sounds, music, slogans, etc., can also be effective marketing channels, so keep this in mind.
Create your budget
Spending money on a winning marketing strategy is inevitable, making it essential to create your budget. Moreover, several marketing approaches are available, but your funds may not allow you to leverage all. However, a budget can help you prioritize the best options for your brand. To get started, consult your marketing leaders, finance, and executive teams to determine what marketing approach will work and how much you need. Also, set SMART marketing goals, estimate their costs, and determine their ROI.