How a Unique Marketing Strategy Works
Marketing is a mix of sales and sharing. To do it well a plan must be put into place and a strategy developed to monitor and keep to the plan. The key to understanding why your company should develop a unique marketing strategy is to understand why you are marketing and what it should deliver for your company. Marketing should never be a bottomless pit of money. Through organized structure and systematic approaches to marketing your company will gain traction quickly and can expect results within three months of implementing the strategy.
To determine the purpose and goal of your marketing efforts you will need to begin to answer questions about your overall brand positioning as well as how your company benefits customers. Brand positioning plays a role in strategy development because you will need to access how you will deliver and implement your strategy. If your company offers a physical service then your brand’s position will be very localized. You will be required to develop a strategy based on your local community and seek white space that highlights how your company offers a solution in your niche.
Likewise understanding in detail how your company benefits customers is key to developing a strategy that can be easily implemented and seamlessly emerge in your industry or niche. Understanding how your company benefits your customers is typically found in your value proposition or in your mission statement. As you consider how your customers benefit from your products or services consider what your competition offers and promotes and take your cues from there.
Developing a strategy that directly challenges your competitors while provides your customers with a better value is why unique marketing strategies are created. Strategies serve as the framework of marketing efforts and help to keep every effort aligned and working towards achieving the tangible objectives set within the strategy. To evaluate if a strategy is successful and to determine if the objectives are being reached companies should see returns on investment fairly early upon implementing a strategy. These returns vary but should be detailed upon launching.
One sample of a return of investment could be successfully launching a user friendly website or landing page, building inbound marketing content, or networking. Other simple returns on investment are positive customer engagement via a social media platform or participation in industry events or training workshops. No matter the measurement – every strategy should detail how success of the strategy will be determined. This is one of the key components to developing a strategy and yet it is often overlooked.
The importance of a tangible return on investment often arises later in the implementation process and thus is often overlooked. It begins to surface when you find your company investing hundreds of dollars into your marketing campaigns without any return on investment and thus traction is never gained. You will soon find that you are quickly losing heart in your marketing strategy and efforts when in fact simple tangible evidence of progress will enable your company to succeed and continue to implement your marketing strategy for maximum impact and return. Measuring your efforts will give your team a sense of traction and naturally evoke enthusiasm as new customers are acquired and other tangibles are achieved.
Within unique marketing strategies you will also find time frames and budgets. Time frames provide estimations on when items should be implemented, how, where, and why. Time is important for every strategy because most products or services have spans and seasons that are relevant to their use. Chimney sweep services are most in demand during colder seasons while an eCommerce store that sells patio furniture gets most of its traffic during hotter months and by consumers and businesses located in warmer climates.
Determining when the strategy should be implemented is just as important as understanding how your products provide a solution to your customers and how your brand will be positioned. Budgets ensure that every item and process in your strategy is cohesive and able to be implemented without hassle or delay. Budgeting is also one of the most difficult parts of determining and should be revisited as you build the strategy to help maintain realistic expectations and considerations.
Creating a unique marketing strategy takes time, creativity, and evaluations of your company’s goals and objectives. The most simple strategies are usually the most effective. Keep your goals tangible, identify your market and competition, determine your budget and then sit down and jot down ways you can integrate your ideas and structure them for implementation during a specific time or in certain time frames.
