I recently found out that 50% of businesses don’t have a marketing strategy. That means that less than half of all businesses actually have a marketing strategy. I couldn’t believe it. However, when I started asking around, it would seem it’s completely true.
Since doing my Professional Diploma in Marketing in 2013, I’ve adopted a strategy first approach in everything I do. Seeing the difference a strategy can make is mind blowing.
Do you have a strategy in your business?
If you don’t have a marketing strategy, and you’re not convinced you need one, here are the top 10 things that you’re missing out on. And can your business really afford to miss out on these?
- Vision
A marketing strategy helps you to visualise the direction you want your business to go in. Where do you want to be in 5 years? It plots the course to get you there.
If you are going to drive somewhere, but you don’t plan the journey and you don’t have a sat nav, the chances are you’re going to get lost. Think of your marketing strategy as your guiding map. You’re so much stronger with it.
- Competitive Advantage
Firstly, you will automatically have a competitive advantage by having a marketing strategy, as the chances are your competitors won’t.
But on top of that, marketing strategies are built on fact, so you need to do your research first. This means it forces you to look into your competitors. Knowing what they’re doing is very important if you want to have more success.
- Situational Analysis
More than just looking at your competitors, marketing strategies are created from a situational analysis. That means we look at the current situation a business is in and we work out what needs to be done to get the business to where it wants to be.
Every situational analysis I’ve ever done has highlighted areas for improvement or low hanging fruit that weren’t always obvious. This task can blow open your marketing.
- Goal Setting
The first step of any strategy is setting marketing objectives. The strategy needs to aim for something, so you have to know what that is. As soon as you set goals, it instantly makes it easier to achieve them, so this act alone puts you in a better position to find success. After all, if you don’t know where you want to go, how will you ever get there?
- Segmentation
Marketing strategies break down who you are going to sell to. By focusing on segmentation rather than this idea of an ‘ideal client’, you can vastly increase your potential client base. I’ve worked with businesses where we’ve increased the marketing efforts just through this task alone, and it all has a positive impact on the bottom line.
- Targeting
When you’ve decided who you’re going to sell to, you will also make decisions on what you’re going to sell to them. If you’ve got a broad product range, this task makes it so much easier to drill down into the key decisions of what to talk about, and to whom. This gives you far more clarity and your marketing becomes more consistent overnight.
- Positioning
For any business, differentiation is vital. You need to work out what makes you different and special. You need to work out why someone should buy from you over your competitors. A marketing strategy formalises this task, and it will elevate all of your messaging. Those with strategies tend to look far more professional.
- Action Plan
When you’ve got your strategy in place, it then becomes relatively easy to write your marketing action plan. You know what you want to achieve, who you’re targeting, what you want to sell to them, and what messages to use. Now all you have to do is choose the relevant channels and you’re on your way. The whole process becomes far simpler and far more effective.
- Control
By having all of this in place, you have far more control over your marketing. That scattergun approach becomes a thing of the past, and you have the consistent and persistent marketing that generally provides real results. And from all this, you look more professional, encouraging more people to work with you.
- ROI
From having a marketing strategy, you not only vastly improve your chances of getting a good return on investment on your marketing, but you also have the right plan in place to be able to track it. Now you know what you want to achieve, you can put in measurements to see how you’re progressing towards your targets.
Time
I’m going to be honest: a good marketing strategy can take about 5 years to be realised. But by that I mean if you want to become the market leader, reach £10M turnover, or build your business significantly so you can plan for your exit. It should focus on your long term goals.
Marketing takes time. There is no escaping it and no quick fix. But if it takes time when you’re fully in control, the chances of you ever getting there without a strategy are slim at best.
You might be lucky of course. But I’d rather make my own luck than take any chances. What about you?
If you’d like to explore how a marketing strategy could transform your business, please feel free to get in touch.
