“Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.” – Bobby Unser
As 2017 approaches, it’s time to review your marketing plan and look ahead at new strategies for the New Year. Marketing is more challenging today than ever; audiences are not only easily distracted, but they are unpredictable – with information, technology, and devices at their fingertips that impact their buying behaviors and decisions.
You cannot fly by the seat of your pants when it comes to marketing in this ever-changing, fast-paced world of digital media. Refreshing your marketing plan each year will ground you and give you the strategy and roadmap you’ll need to thrive in 2017.
Marketing Plan Must-Haves
Your marketing plan needs to do four crucial things:
- Determine your position within the marketplace
In order to properly align your branding efforts, it’s crucial to know how customers perceive your organization. Perception campaigns, surveys and focus groups are great ways to uncover this information. - Set measurable goals
The best way to motivate your team is to set goals throughout the year that can be accomplished with some effort. You can figure out how to reach each goal by determining what needs to happen each week, month, and quarter for it to be realized. - Define why you are different than your competitors
Do you have an elevator pitch? If you can’t differentiate your business from the competition, then how will your customers? You must be able to characterize why you stand out from other businesses. - Strategize how you will reach and communicate to your target audience
We build avatars for each of our ideal client types and build marketing and customer care programs around attracting, converting and retaining them.
Tips for Executing a Great Plan
- Determine what went well in 2016 – and what didn’t. Don’t repeat past mistakes.
- Pay attention to metrics and your budget. Are your marketing dollars going towards attracting your pre-determined ideal customers?
- Figure out how and where your customers buy. You need to make sure that you are meeting your audience on their terms.
- How well do you know your audience? If you’ve never taken the time to create avatars of your customers, do it now.
- Remember that content is king. You need to communicate with your audience in a voice and tone that they can relate to – and with quality information and offerings that they will appreciate.
- Think about developing better relationships with your existing clients. The Lifetime Customer Value (LCV) is a number that predicts how much profit you will gain from a customer throughout their entire relationship with your company. Do you know your number? How can you make it better?
- Remember: it’s less expensive from a monetary and time perspective to retain a customer than replace a customer.
- Look into what groups influence your target audience. If you can tap into the right influencers, it will be easier to reach your audience.
- Establish a calendar of upcoming events and milestones. What events require your action? What quarterly milestones can you track and celebrate?
By taking the time to evaluate 2016 and prepare for 2017, you’ll be setting yourself up for success in the New Year. A comprehensive marketing strategy and roadmap will lay out where you want to go, and how you’re going to get there.
If you want to kick-start your 2017, contact the experts at Conveyance today. We’d love to help you convey your message in the New Year.
Conveyance Marketing Group is a team of bright, innovative and talented veteran marketers dedicated to big ideas, fresh insights and measurable results. We pride ourselves on taking challenging marketing issues and turning them into opportunities for our clients, on pointing brands in the right direction, and on getting our customers noticed both online and off. From branding to websites to digital marketing, and public relations, we handle all your marketing communication needs! Web Design and Development | Brand Strategy | Inbound Marketing | Social Media | SEO | PR
