We talk a lot about running advertising campaigns on this blog. We’d be remiss if we didn’t also discuss the biggest factor in whether or not that campaign will be successful: and that is whether or not you have an overall solid marketing strategy in place.
Think of your overall marketing strategy as the fundamentals behind your ability to increase your leads and sales.
When you want to lose weight and get into shape, you follow specific nutritional and fitness strategies to reach your goals. Those strategies may include cutting down on calories, drinking more water, and doing a mix of resistance and aerobic training.
To reach your advertising goals, you also must follow some fundamental marketing strategies that will allow your organization to direct its resources and budget toward the best opportunities so you can get the best return on your investment and increase your bottom line.
With this in mind, here are some key marketing strategies to focus on.
Define Your ideal Target
In order to get your message in front of the right people, you’ve got to fundamentally understand who your target market is. Your research must go deeper than just the basic questions of gender, age, and household income.
Effective messaging and choosing the right channels requires knowing your prospects’ pain points, hopes and dreams. In other words, what is wrong in your audience’s world and how can you help make it right? When you can answer these questions, you can create relevant messaging that converts.
Take an Integrated Approach
Now that you’ve done your research and know exactly WHO it is you want to serve, you’ve next got to find out WHERE they consume their information. Do they mostly read print newspapers and magazines? Are they active on certain social networks? Are they a younger demographic that may respond to SMS marketing? Chances are, your campaign will require a mix of channels in order to reach all of your targets effectively. An integrated marketing campaign may use a combination of magazine ads, direct mail, social media and radio to extend your reach and meet your prospects on the channels they prefer.
Clearly Communicate Your USP
Any Miller Lite beer fans out there? Take a look at one of their classic commercials:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=argdPEmD9bI
“Taste great – less filling” was not only their slogan, it was also their unique selling proposition. Same with M&Ms, “Melts in your mouth, not in your hands.”
To have a successful campaign, you need to highlight what sets your product or service apart from the competition. Why should people choose you? It’s not enough to list your features, in fact, benefits will ALWAYS get more attention. But even beyond a list of benefits, find what it is that makes your offer unique and compelling and be sure to create your messaging around that.
Run the Marathon
The final piece of your overall marketing strategy is commitment. Effective campaigns aren’t sprints, they are definitely marathons. You’ve got to train for the race (that means test and tweak your campaigns), then commit to the run. Your ads must be seen a number of times in order to establish awareness of and trust in your brand. A “one-and-done” approach to advertising simply won’t get you the results you hope for.
Commitment is truly key. You could have all of the other points we’ve mentioned down, but if you don’t commit to your campaigns, you’ll never reach your goals.
What makes a solid marketing strategy? Knowing your target customer, taking an integrated approach to your campaigns, knowing and communicating your USP, and above all, committing to the journey.
