One of the universe’s greatest mysteries is why marketing departments are the first to be eliminated when a company needs to cut costs. Strategic marketing is a driving force behind a company’s growth. When things are down, that is the worst time to stop your marketing efforts.
Yes, word of mouth is incredibly powerful and may even help you keep the lights on, but it won’t help your business grow and thrive, especially during slow economic periods. But wait, social media will save the day, you say. Think again.
Research, targeting, messaging, and analytical reporting are what earn marketing a strategic seat at the table. Here’s why.
Research – you don’t know what you don’t know. Sounds obvious, right? It’s not for those who are convinced that they already know everything. Only when you ask questions do you learn what people are thinking. Focus groups and surveys are an excellent way to understand what your customers or prospects are thinking about you, the products and services you provide, and how/why/if they choose you over your competitors.
Stay on top of social and industry trends from reputable sources not the likes of TikTok and Instagram. Make every attempt to research the researchers. You don’t want partisan views clouding the information. Always remember to add your competitors into the mix. Set up Google Alerts to automatically receive news/mentions about them. Remember to set them up for your company and top leadership, too.
Targeting – who are your clients/customers? You know what they purchase but what else do you know? Demographics and socio-economic factors play a significant role in buying decisions. Customer segmentation will help bucket the different personas that make up your customer base. Analyzing those personas will help you better identify your ideal target customer and where you can find them. (Note I didn’t say target audience. Check out Middle Ages Marketing to learn why your customers aren’t your only audience.)
Poorly executed segmentation (or no segmentation at all) can hurt your brand and cost you potential revenue. Think of all the times you have received materials that are completely irrelevant to your life. How fast did they go in the online or physical trashcan?
Messaging – It’s not enough for your outreach to look cool. If your messaging isn’t compelling and personalized it’s not going to stand out. The right messaging tells the customer that you know and understand who they are, what they need, and best yet, that you can take away their pain. Personalization is equally important in business-to-business marketing. Companies have pain points, too, and need reasons to choose you over the competition. Remember that prospects and current clients should rarely receive the same messaging as their needs and knowledge of you are not the same.
Analytical Reporting – Except for branding, all marketing efforts should be built on measurement. From clicks to open rates, number of applications to closed deals, number of prospect meetings to contract signature, everything can be measured. Thanks to pixels and UTM codes, it is easy to link online advertising from specific media outlets to actions taken on the web. Print ads can utilize unique URLs to track web visits. Having call center representatives ask customers all the ways they heard about your company is valuable.
The end game is not the report but what you do with it. What is the data telling you? Providing actionable analysis to zig instead of zag is what makes marketing a critical and strategic function. Marketers are entrusted with hard-earned company dollars. As stewards of that budget, you must know where every dollar went and how well it helped you achieve the goals.
Now with all this information you can define the best strategies to attain your objectives. Only once those specific and measurable strategies are identified can you put a tactical plan in place to best reach the appropriate audiences. For many marketers, tactics is where the fun starts. Think ad campaigns, billboards, media relations, and more. When those campaigns end the work isn’t over. Analyze the results of each element to determine its relation to the return on investment. Identify what to do again, what to tweak, and what to throw out.
Ready to talk strategy? Contact CMO for Hire today.
