If you’re like me, you hate to lose. The lack of payoff for my efforts frustrates me (and brings out my competitive side!).
But here’s a hard truth: if you’re not putting real effort into your marketing strategy, you’re losing every day. You’re losing valuable opportunities, leads, and money, all by crossing your fingers and hoping that your existing campaigns will magically do the job. To take your marketing strategy to the next level, it’s essential to develop an effective marketing strategy. If you don’t have one in place, here are the most important reasons to start planning yours right away:
1. You Don’t Have a Direction
Without a digital strategy, many companies wander aimlessly through marketing tactics without knowing where to focus their efforts. Without SMART goals for your marketing strategy, it’s hard to know where you’re headed—or if you’re actually achieving what you set out to do.
2. You Don’t Know Your Target Audience
Today’s digital marketplace is wildly complex. The dynamics of one audience can be completely different from the online behavior of other users. Because of this, trying out strategies at random without knowing the first thing about your niche audience is a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, with the right marketing strategy, you can narrow down your audience, create buyer personas, and understand how to reach your audience with the right messages across multiple platforms.
3. You’re Wasting Money
If you’re hoping to get the most bang for your buck, you need to be strategic about your choices. Wasting resources on the wrong campaigns, or duplicating your efforts with similar online marketing tactics, is a surefire way to drain your ROI.
4. You’re Not Consistent
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking, “Well, publishing something is better than nothing.” It may be true—but just barely! Offering inconsistent messaging and activity can confuse your efforts, making it harder to establish your brand and attract your target audience. On the other hand, with the right marketing strategy, you’ll be better equipped to offer relevant and valuable content aimed at your buyer persona, no matter where they are online.
5. Your Teams Don’t Have a Clear Vision
There’s nothing more confusing than trying to work on a campaign with an unclear strategy. But that gets worse if you’re struggling to communicate a vague vision to multiple teams. With a defined strategy in place, your writers, web developers, and designers will better understand their common goal, allowing them to craft better building blocks for your campaign.
6. You’re Letting the Competition Win!
If you’re planning to give away your valuable market share to existing and startup competitors, all you need to do is kick off campaigns without thinking about them. Without a marketing strategy, you may as well be sending your audience members an invite to take their business elsewhere!
Finally, convinced about the power of a marketing strategy? If you’re ready to take the next steps and start winning business instead of losing opportunities, I want to invite you to hear more! My consultations are designed to help both new and experienced entrepreneurs. Kick off marketing strategy, partner with me to dig into the best ways to jump-start your strategy today.
Lara Schmoisman, CEO & Founder of The Darl and Marketing Simplificado