5 reasons why you need a marketing strategy – Regardless of which industry, sector, or market you operate in, you need a marketing plan. This is because if you don’t market effectively, you won’t sell your products and services (at least not at the rate you want/need to).
But if that isn’t enough to persuade you to take the time to put a marketing strategy together, here are our top 5 reasons why you need a marketing strategy.
1. It plots the route you’ll need to take to achieve your commercial objectives
In its simplest form, marketing is the line between where you are and where you want to be. This line is your marketing plan. Once you have that plan you will be able to see:
- The steps you need to take
- The marketing channels you need to use
- The times of the year that will need most activity/budget/resource
You will also be able to make more astute marketing decisions and be able to budget more accurately, cutting out unnecessary off-the-cuff spend and saving the time and hassle of repeating the marketing mistakes that never worked anyway.
2. It will improve your understanding of your market/s
The best marketing plans are based on an in-depth understanding of all the different parts of the markets you are targeting.
You need to know exactly how they act, what they want, what they do, how they communicate and – most importantly – what they want to hear and how they want that message packaged.
Investing in creating a fully formed marketing strategy gives you the opportunity to take a step back and combine the marketing metrics/data you have to hand with the insight gained by the colleagues who spend most time with your customers.
This will provide a comprehensive and totally up to date picture of the people you want to market to, the picture you’ll need to produce the most effective marketing strategy possible.
3. It will ensure you make best use of your resources and budget
Someone once said – Einstein I think – that the definition of madness is to keep doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. It scares me to think how many marketers still fall into this trap!
As you put together your marketing strategy you will be able to identify which areas need the most TLC, which offer the most opportunity.
Is it new business?
Is it repeat purchase?
Is it customer education and retention?
Is it a mix of all 3 but with a stronger accent on digital rather than physical sales?
Whatever the outcome the answer to these questions will determine the best tactics and make sure you appropriate your budget, time, and effort in exact the right places.
4. It will help you make better decisions for your clients
Knowing what you need to do and why will enable you to really tailor your message and means for the different parts of your market. Addressing each customer/client’s exact needs will make for happier customers; they’ll hear/see what they want to and when they want to, and they’ll be able to react and engage in the way they want to.
And however complicated you want to make marketing, a happier customer is more likely to repurchase, increase their own spend and tell their family and friends about you.
5. It’ll make you more streamlined and more effective as a team
Achieving goals has to be a team effort. It requires everyone to know what they’re doing and why. It also needs to be absolutely implicit how different stakeholders, different departments and even different brands will need to collaborate.
A good marketing strategy provides that unity, that single purpose.
And if that sounds a bit touchy-feely, look at it this way instead … if everyone knows exactly what they need to do and tasks are distrusted carefully and correctly, there will be no duplication of effort.
This means much less time is wasted and output increases.
And that will have a positive impact on profitability and productivity.
Still not convinced about why you need a marketing strategy?!
If this has given you food for thought and you’d like to have a chat about how we could help you tighten up your marketing strategy so your business can recognise all of these benefits, please drop us a line and we can arrange a time to talk.