While every business owner knows that marketing is essential for growth, people often don’t put the necessary time and effort into forming their marketing strategy. Planning your strategy is one of the most important parts of the marketing process, and it can mean the difference between high ROI and no results.
Continue reading for five steps to elevate your marketing efforts through strategic planning.
1. Assess Your Current Position
The first step to strategic planning is to know where you’re currently standing, both in relation to your industry and in terms of your end goals. Take some time to assess your current position. One of the most common methods of performing this assessment is called a SWOT analysis, which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
First, look inside: what are your strengths and weaknesses as a business and an organisation? Next, look outside: where are the opportunities for your business to grow and capture leads? Are there any external threats you need to be aware of? Performing a SWOT can help you, and your team find the answers to these questions and clearly understand your position in relation to the competition.
2. Align Your Marketing Goals with Your Business Goals
Your marketing goals don’t exist in a vacuum! Create smart marketing goals that are aligned with your business goals so that your marketing always has a clear objective. For example, if your business goal is to grow your book of business by x number of clients this calendar year, your marketing strategy should be focused on lead generation rather than customer retention.
3. Choose a Campaign That Supports Your Goals
Not all marketing channels are appropriate for every goal. When you have a clear view of your goals, do some research on the different media available and choose a few marketing streams that will really help support your goal and push your agenda forward. From email campaigns to webinars to TikTok—some media are more helpful than others!
4. Create a Campaign Calendar
Now that you know how you want to push your campaign forward create a calendar that establishes both your timeline and your specific activities. The calendar’s purpose is to keep you and your marketing team on track with your goals and also serves as a data point you can share with employees and stakeholders. Many marketing campaigns fizzle out after the first energetic push because the people running those campaigns simply run out of steam and don’t have a clear path forward. A campaign calendar helps you eliminate the “what do we do now” questions and keeps everyone on the same page.
5. Implement and Measure
Now that you’ve clarified your goals, chosen your channel, and created your calendar, you’re ready to implement your strategic marketing plan! But remember, your work doesn’t end with just implementing your marketing strategy. A huge part of successful marketing campaigns is follow-through. You need a clear method of tracking your campaign’s progress and results so that you have measurable data to refer to in the future. If you cannot see the fruit of your efforts, it’s hard to know what you need to improve on or continue with down the road.
Strategic planning is an essential ingredient in a successful marketing campaign. If you’re looking to elevate your brand through great marketing, SW1 Limited is here to help! Our marketing experts are ready to work with you to create a marketing strategy that’s aligned with your business goals. Get in touch with us today for your free presence report!