Build a Solid Marketing Foundation
By Debra Murphy, Vista Consulting
All construction must begin with a solid foundation otherwise you risk erecting a structure that requires constant maintenance and repair. Creating a solid marketing plan is no different. Jumping directly to program execution without producing the necessary foundation increases your risk of missing your target and wasting your marketing dollars. The fundamental information and tools that simply must be in place before any marketing campaign will be successful need to be built as carefully and with as much care as the foundation of a building. So before you begin spending your precious marketing budget, take a moment to be sure your marketing foundation is solid.
VistaPlan™ Framework - Simplified, Integrated Marketing
The following diagram illustrates the critical components of the marketing foundation and how that foundation provides the base for all of the marketing programs you may want to execute.
Lay the Foundation
As you can see, a market and competitive analysis is the base of your plan. A market analysis has you look at the pool of potential customers and understand what these prospects need that you can provide them. You should sit back and think about your business and determine what you really should focus on. By evaluating your business from the perspective of client need, you will be able to focus your efforts on initiatives that are key to the success of your business.
The competitive analysis helps you understand what your competitors are doing from both a business and marketing perspective. By understanding your competition and how you are different from them, you can develop a plan that differentiates you from your competition and gain visibility with your target audience.
Analyze Your Company
Look at your company from many different aspects and summarize what your business does or offers in products and services. Identify the 4P's of marketing for your company. This will help you define the product or service, how you price and package your offerings, and the channels through which you will sell them.
Then develop your marketing objectives, determine your target market and segmentation, and conduct a SWOT analysis. Keep it simple and to the point. Don't waste time on lengthy documents that don't help you grow your business.
Your positioning statement and messages come next. Clearly articulate your value to your prospect in terms that everyone understands. Your positioning statement expresses how you want your customers to think and feel about your solution relative to the competition. Your messages are the key ingredient to all of your campaigns. Everyone in the organization must be able to articulate them when called upon, not just marketing. Test your messages by getting direct feedback from people who represent the target audience. It is not necessary to spend a lot of money to get effective feedback. Call your partners and customers. It will be worth the effort.
Develop Your Brand
Your brand is the image you wish to portray to the world and is one of your company's most valuable assets. It communicates your corporate personality and shapes the internal and external clients’ perceptions of who you are as well as the expectations and promises you extend to your customers in terms of quality, service, reliability and trustworthiness. A strong brand helps the audience differentiate you from your competitors and can positively influence their purchasing decisions, directly impacting your profitability.
Identify Your Marketing Strategy
The marketing strategy outlines your plan of action to achieve your marketing objectives. It is how you take advantage of the seven types of marketing promotion to build awareness and educate your prospects. If one of your marketing objectives is to double traffic to your web site, what activities will you use to drive more traffic to your web site and in what timeframe and with what budget? Think through each of your marketing objectives and identify the key activities that will help you achieve success.
Create Your Sales Tools
Your sales tools are the last activity you should undertake before you launch your marketing campaigns. Until you know what types of marketing you will do, you don't know what materials you will need to support them. Using the brand identity and messages developed earlier, combine them to create the sales tools that help you communicate with your target audience. A good first impression makes selling that much easier, and a consistent set of materials – Web site, brochures, newsletters, advertisements, business cards and other materials – with a strong identity and a compelling, powerful and enduring message, gets you noticed and remembered.
If you can do only one thing well because of budget or resource constraints, be sure your Web site is the best you can provide. It is most likely the first impression your prospect gets of your company, and how useful, informative, and simple it is to use will impact their decision to do business with you. I cannot stress this point enough – a bad Web site can ruin your entire marketing effort by turning away prospects before you even know they are there.
Build Upon the Foundation
Now you are ready to execute the plan. You have a roadmap for your business, a budget for your activities, and an understanding about how you will reach your prospects. By building your foundation first, all of your programs will be consistent, targeted, and more likely to succeed. You can be assured that no matter what type of programs you choose, you will consistently communicate your value to your prospects, raising your awareness, attracting ideal prospects, and increasing profitability.
