How to Develop an Effective Marketing Strategy and Create a Core Brand Message
Deciding to start a business comes with its share of challenges. Making a company takes a huge amount of will power, guts and confidence to weather out the difficulties of the initial stages. And, you might be a little confused, as to what to do next and also what to prioritize first. You’re not alone. A lot of startups struggle in their first year. Not only that, knowing that a lot of startups fail; you might be wondering have you chosen the right path and how you can succeed. Yes, you cannot do it on your own alone. You need a good advice to overcome the doubts and challenges that come your way.
Such as, you’ve been advised to acquire the services of PR and Advertising agencies to promote your products and services, but is it really effective? Getting PR and Advertising consultants might be a good idea to promote and advertise your products and services, but in the long run, you need more than these consultants to succeed in business. Not only that, PR and Advertising agencies handles a lot of business clients, so your business might not get the much needed attention it deserves. Don’t get me wrong, consultants can also help you in your business, but as a business owner, you need to do as the catchphrase say, “Walk the Talk”, and more than that.
Developing a Marketing Strategy
When you have successfully promoted your company, the measurement of that is the number of customers your business has. The next challenge is how you’ll be able to keep your customers and at the same time, how to gain more and more customers.
To develop an effective marketing strategy, your business must develop your products and services, along the following lines:
1. Appearance and Features of the Product i.e. packaging and added features
2. Quality of Products and Services
3. Pricing
4. Manner and Speed of Delivery of Products and Services
5. Line- up and Type of Products
Now, let’s tackle how to measure the effectiveness of your marketing and promotion strategies.
First, check on the feedback of your existing customers. Learn about their comments, feedbacks and suggestions, no matter how outrageous it may seem. On an objective point of view, there is a way to measure the effectiveness of your promotional marketing strategies.
Marketing Formula= Reach x Response Rate
One thing to note is that you cannot calculate the Response Rate if you don’t have any Reach. On the other hand, Response Rate is the rate of feedback from customers.
How to Develop an Effective Marketing Strategy
In actual business, there is a cycle illustrated as: Plan- Action- Review
Business planning must precede any major actions and decisions of your company. For startups, having a business plan, is important for the success of your company. Next is taking action of your plans. As Eilbert Einstein once said, “Action is better than inaction.” Implement your plans and act on your intuition and guts. You don’t have to figure everything out in the initial stages; just do it, as cliche as it may sound. Next thing, you must do is to review on results stemming out from your plans and actions. Taking time to review your results will keep your team and company on the right track to achieving the goals at hand. Keep in mind that these three stages are a cycle that are connected to each other.
3 Essential Tips on Promotion of Products and Services
1. Keep in mind what to say and what not to say
Before promoting your products and services, you must prepare a clear brand message of your company. Having a flagship product and service to which to focus on should be the core of your marketing efforts. This main product and service must have an edge over your competitors out in the market.
2. Delivery of your Brand Message
Knowing how you will say your brand message has overriding importance as the brand message itself. How you deliver your brand message creates an impact more than the message itself.
3. Promote your Brand
The reality is, you will be faced with a lot of competition by big and small players. That’s why in order to get the attention of your target customers. The brand message must be catchy and unique and specifically- designed for your target audience.
If you are reading this, don’t think too much of whether your promotional marketing strategies will work out; act it out and adjust along the way. Action is still more important than just sitting around. So, go out and spread the word about your company. You are the message- bearer; thus, you hold the key for your company’s success.
