Building and maintaining a marketing strategy can seem like a dark art at times and it’s often ignored, as the pressures of day-to-day business grip. That said, the best businesses – large and small – take the time to go through the process of creating and fine-tuning their marketing strategy, which in reality doesn’t need to be an onerous undertaking.
Start with a strategy
I’ve written previously about the individual components of a strategic marketing plan, such as a value proposition, a go-to-market, branding and so on. Yet we’ve never touch on the planning process itself.
A strategic marketing plan is a roadmap that covers the key objectives and goals of your business. The great British politician, Winston Churchill once said: “Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.” In other words, the process of planning will make you more focused, more in tune with your clients, and more able to adapt to market changes.
The age-old KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) process, which seems to have been around since the Battle of Britain, works well here. In fact, a recent study found that if there is a basic business plan in place you’re twice as likely to succeed in growing your business.
Three-point planning
A basic strategic plan should consist of three parts: a review of the previous year, a recap on the business’s objectives and goals, and a renewed focus on the tactics.
- The Year in Review
In my business, we refer to the review process as a ‘state of the nation’, which a politician such as Churchill would almost certainly approve. The state of the nation addresses how a business is travelling and shapes up within its competitive environment. It will involve a review of the previous year’s marketing activities – the hits and misses – as well as the return on investment (ROI) from your marketing activities. One of my company’s real estate clients recently scored a property listing, which can be attributed directly to a blog he started pumping out six months ago. We write the blog for a modest fee and he’s scored a multimillion dollar listing – which is an excellent ROI in anybody’s book.
In relation to your competitive environment, consider the performance of other financial planning outfits – the winners and the also-rans. As part of this competitive navel gazing, consider how the market changed in 2016-2017 and how this will impact the new financial year. As part of this analysis, consider whether there are market or regulatory changes that you need to adapt to – and how Saturday’s election result might shape your competitive environment and the advice and services you will take to the market.
- Key objectives and goals for the year
Armed with your marketing review, you’re in a position to set your key goals and objectives. You’re not Robinson Crusoe if you get confused between objectives, goals and tactics. An objective might be to “become the planner of choice in my area” and you can measure your success by applying a goal such as “achieve 50 per cent repeat customers”. Your objectives should be aspirational, while your goals are the tangible indicators that you’re achieving them. Set a limit of three to five objectives. Any more, and you’ll struggle to achieve them.
- Putting your marketing strategy into practice
Your tactics are the initiatives, activities, campaigns and promotions you’ll use to achieve your goals and objectives. Let’s assume your goal involves: “achieving 50 per cent repeat customers”. The consequential tactic might be “to provide a 20 per cent discount on additional services, such as estate planning or redundancy advice for existing customers”.
At the end of the day, a basic marketing plan will give you a better idea of where to focus your resources to help you stay on a successful track. As small business owners, maintaining a steely focus is often our biggest challenge. So, invest the time in building a basic plan, which will prove to be time well spent.
