Glad I Skipped The Marketing Strategy – Said No Successful CEO Ever
All SMEs want digital marketing success. But in my experience too many gaily skip over the fundamental stage of creating a customised digital marketing strategy in their excitement to write blogs, post on social media posts and let the lure of Facebook ads and Google Adwords envelope them.
And that’s a real shame. And I don’t mean to criticise…..
But I recently realised that many entrepreneurs are so wrapped up in the wow-ness of their own product, they forget that your average Joe or average Julie is bombarded by sales pitches every single day - via multiple digital marketing channels.
1. Successful CEO’s
Successful CEO’s are those who say to themselves, “Hang on a moment. How on earth am I going to market my amazing product so that it stands out from the crowd, and so I make real sales without spending a fortune on marketing?”
They reflect. They check out their successful competitors. They start to see a trend of consistent messages and well thought through marketing campaigns. And they realise they need a robust digital marketing strategy to follow before they spend even a penny on their marketing activities.
2. Less Successful CEO’s
These guys and gals are busy embracing outsourcing with a passion. They throw money at a variety of companies (whose websites are all shiny and glossy) who promise leads galore OR unrivalled social media engagement OR mega Adwords success OR guarantee first page listing OR back links by the thousand.
Not a hint of a digital marketing strategy to follow. No easy way to co-ordinate all the different activities. And then they wonder why they’re spending loads of money on marketing, but seeing a poor return on investment.
3. Why A Digital Marketing Strategy Is Essential
If you want to reach the Joes and Julies of this world, and actually make sales, you need to nail your digital marketing strategy from day one.
You need a plan to deliver a consistent marketing message to the right target market at the right time via the most suitable digital marketing channels for your specific business.
4. How Does A Digital Marketing Strategy Achieve That?
The best digital marketing strategies:
- are simple to understand
- offer easy-to-implement solutions
- become a document you work to religiously, rather than something you simply file away
Beware the strategists who offer a 50 page report of statistics, competitor reviews, technical terminology and a load more waffle!
A great digital marketing strategy will advise on:
YOUR USP
If your unique selling point isn’t immediately apparent, why would people choose you over other companies they already trust?
Your strategy should identify your specific niche in a very busy digital market place through thorough examination of your product and in depth competitor research.
YOUR MESSAGES
However unique your product, if you aren’t explaining how it can benefit your potential customers, they really won’t understand its attraction.
Your marketing strategy should identify the words, the phrases and the visuals to use to make it completely apparent.
YOUR WEBSITE
Only a professionally designed website, with clear content and visuals, can convey your USP and key messages.
Your digital marketing strategy should highlight how your website should be adjusted to achieve this, and so help build credibility in your brand.
YOUR CHOICE OF DIGITAL MARKETING CHANNELS
All well run businesses have a specific marketing budget – so make it work for you. There’s no need to be active on all social media channels if just a couple reach your target market. Similarly why spend £1000s on Google display Adwords if you can generate all the business you can handle via cheaper Facebook ads?
A sound marketing strategy will define exactly which channels you should be active on to achieve your own specific business objectives.
YOUR MARKETING CAMPAIGNS
Whether you’re offering special deals or simply promoting your regular products, you need to be consistent about what you are saying and where you are saying it. For example:
- What’s the point of offering a 10% discount on your website but not offering it on Facebook?
- Where’s the rationale of launching your new product on your website and across your social media channels, but forgetting to tell your existing customers via a nice, newsy e-newsletter?
An effective strategy will ensure your campaigns are marketed across all relevant channels simultaneously - ensuring the same messages is sent out everywhere.
5. Implementation Of Your Digital Marketing Strategy
Unlike the less successful CEO’s who outsource each individual task to niche experts and then realise they can’t co-ordinate the various activities effectively, as a SME it makes more sense to work with a team comprising all the expertise you need – the “one stop shop” approach.
By using a single team with all the necessary skills you know that
- your marketing messages will be delivered in a consistent and co-ordinated way across all digital channels
- you will be maximising the reach of your marketing message
- the team can gather data from all channels to see what is working and what isn’t – and make the necessary adjustsments
- you’ll receive a single report on progress which clearly shows how the different marketing channels stack up against one another in terms of effectiveness.
So what’s it to be? Successful CEO with a detailed, effective digital marketing strategy to follow OR less successful CEO juggling multiple marketing companies with no clear grasp of what on earth is going on?
The choice is yours.
If you want to know more about digital marketing strategy or need help with any aspect of digital marketing, please feel free to drop us a line.
Mishee
Great article
mishee50
Thanks for the positive feedback!