Here’s the thing: it’s simply not enough to be good at what you do nowadays.
I’m sure you’ve encountered people in your professional life who have less than stellar professional abilities but are getting loads of gigs.
You wonder, “Why?” – when your resume is way better than theirs.
Well, it may simply be because they are better marketers, and they have been implementing a strategic marketing plan.
They may not keep clients over a long time, but you have to admit, they’re pretty darn good at reeling them in. And reeling them in means knowing and truly understanding their needs – and knowing your business well enough to be able to address those needs.
Needless to say, a well-conceived and properly implemented strategic marketing plan is the foundation for your business’ success.
So how do you do it? Go back to the basics. Only when all these things are clear to you can you implement a great marketing plan:
Know EVERYTHING about your business.
What are you product or service strengths? Know all these by heart, including your pricing, sales promotion and distribution methods, etc. Take a look at your industry. Is it growing or declining?
Know your prospects, clients, customers.
Who are they in terms of age, sex, income, job title, etc.? Do you know their habits more or less? What do they currently value most about your offerings – convenience? Service? Reliability? Affordability? How did previous clients/customers learn about your product or service?
Check out your competition.
In your target area, how many competitors do you have? What do they offer that you don’t? What online marketing strategies do they use. Is their website and content better than yours?
Know your budget.
Which tools or strategies did you used that required least amount of time and money, yet delivered great results? Do you need to make new action plans? If yes, what’s the budget for its implementation?
Indeed, your marketing efforts are less about you and your business than they are about your clients, and customers. Take with you the confidence that comes from truly knowing and understanding your business, so that you can come up with a great strategic marketing plan that will make you a winning online marketer.
To Your Success,
Elmar Sandyck
August 20th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
This is a useful post about marketing. I’m a student just trying to learn more about this business and I really enjoyed reading it. Keep up the great job!
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admin Reply:
August 20th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Hi Blair, thanks for stopping by!
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September 21st, 2010 at 4:51 am
You really drove home the point. Strategy is indeed an important aspect of success; without it, it’s like traveling without a road map or without any sense of direction! Indeed, we have to go back to the basics and really know our goals, target market and future plans in order to be succeed.
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