The saying “practice makes perfect” applies to many things, including digital marketing. You’ll a/b test compelling paid ads, pour money into various marketing campaigns and invest lots of time into work that doesn’t get you anywhere. It happens. But if this keeps happening, there’s a problem. And it’s likely not your budget size – it’s how you do it.
While we may be called ‘Trio’, we don’t believe it takes three times to get it right. Your marketing efforts should (and will) achieve your business goals as long as you have a robust marketing plan to work off.
As a marketing strategy agency, we’ll share what makes a successful plan and how it’ll benefit your business in the long run.
What is a marketing strategy?
A marketing strategy is a long-term plan for achieving business-related goals in a smart and data-driven way. Alongside meeting goals, a strategic plan will help you better understand your competition and identify ways you can resonate with your target audience.
You’ll get a close view of your audience, including their demographics, pain points and how you can position your service or product through relevant marketing channels. Plus, you’ll discover what your competition is doing and spot gaps that you can take advantage of. This last part is what makes it a digital marketing strategy. Your plan will outline how online channels like organic search (SEO), social media, paid ads, website design and content writing will boost your visibility and conversions.
How to create a marketing strategy
Your marketing strategy is a roadmap to your future growth. A successful strategy will guide your overall marketing efforts and help you maintain relevance with your target audience.
To achieve this, you’ll need to create a comprehensive plan tailored to your business goals. We recommend including:
1. Target audience
Your buyer personas highlight your current, former and prospective customers. Use audience insights tools to learn about their demographics, location and income. Dive deeper into your audience’s goals, pain points, hobbies, preferred devices and social media platforms.
At Trio, we use the Global Web Index (GWI) to define target audiences and read more into their specific shopping habits and behaviours. Combining this information gives us a super-targeted outlook of who we’re marketing to.
In the screenshot below, we show an example audience of 16-18-year-olds who are looking for or are studying for a degree in Global Social Challenges. As you can see, social responsibility is a significant interest to them.
2. Competitor analysis
You must keep an eye on what your competitors are doing. Research their websites and social media channels, investigate what they rank for and how much traffic they get. You’ll start to notice similarities or gaps, all of which you can factor into your marketing strategy.
3. Brand positioning
Once you’ve determined your goals, audience and competitors, it’s time to create your brand messaging. Break down how your product or service will benefit your potential clients and why you outshine your competitors. Put this together to make your positioning statement.
Don’t forget your positioning statement should be about how your product or service solves your audiences’ pain points. It’s not actually about how great you are. At Trio, we help our clients figure this out with a brand positioning activity. The results highlight why your customers do or don’t work with or buy from you. From here, we’ll unravel how to effectively place yourself in the market.
4. Marketing plan
Since a customer’s buying journey is never simple, you’ll need to have marketing tactics for every stage in the funnel. At Trio, we use the AIDA framework, which stands for:
- Awareness: At this stage, you must focus on social media advertising, content and video marketing, digital PR and SEO to grab attention. Your customers don’t know you yet, so start making some noise.
- Interest: You’ve caught attention, and now you need to maintain it. Here’s where a content marketing strategy comes into play. Plan content to keep them engaged and grow as thought leaders in your industry.
- Desire: Your customers are now interested in what you have to say. Rely on user-generated content (UGC), testimonials and case studies to align with your customers’ needs and desires.
- Action: It’s go time. You want your customers to convert, so your website must be well-optimised and seamless to navigate.
5. Channel strategy
It’s time to consider what channels you want to invest your time in. Is your website lacking finesse? You may need to improve your website design, copy or user experience (UX). Want to increase brand awareness? Look towards improving your social media presence via organic or paid media.
Finalising your channel strategy is essential for keeping your marketing efforts aligned with your goals.
6. Budget
In a marketer’s dream world, their yearly budget would be limitless. But sadly, we almost always have a finance team holding the company bank cards hostage. Define your budget and how you’ll use this smartly across your channel strategy.
7. Timescales
Now, you need to map out what marketing you will do, when you’ll do it and over what time. Are you aiming to achieve everything in 12 months? A few years? Consider the timescales and start planning what you’ll do month by month.
8. Measurement tactics
Lastly, you need to identify how you’ll measure the success of your marketing efforts. You must consider essential metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs).
Why is a marketing strategy important?
A successful marketing strategy is your secret weapon in today’s competitive digital world. You’ll harness data for smarter decisions and create stronger relationships with your target audience. The results? Higher conversions, better return on investment (ROI) and achieved business goals.
A marketing strategy is no easy task. But with our expertise and your industry knowledge, we’ll craft a plan fit for you. Let’s save you the effort so you can get on with what you’re good at.
Contact Trio Media, marketing strategy agency in Leeds
We’re a data-driven digital marketing agency that puts your success first. When you partner with us, you’ll receive a personalised marketing strategy that converts customers and delivers real ROI. Want to learn more? Contact our team or call us at 0113 733 2020.