An effective marketing strategy is at the core of every successful business. This is exactly what brings your product or service to a target audience and convinces you to purchase. If you are new to entrepreneurship, it might seem overwhelming. But this guide will teach you everything you need to know to build such a strategy from the ground.
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What Marketing Strategy Includes?
A marketing strategy is a set of practices and activities that are designed to understand customers and their needs and achieve business goals by meeting those needs most effectively.
It covers all the steps, from identifying the target buyer’s persona to communication channels and advertisements. As it is a huge field, it requires time, research, and dedication to position a brand properly on the market and in the audience’s perception.
That’s why the first rule is not to rush too much. You need to start with deep research of the market, competitors, product value, audience, etc. For student entrepreneurs, it might be difficult to find more free time if they combine business with studies.
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This is a great learning option because you get to collaborate with experts and access their expertise. It is helpful to build those skills for the future and become a better writer. So there is always a way out for students having issues with time management.
Now, let’s define the essential steps to building a successful marketing strategy.
Step 1. Research
Market research is an integral part that becomes the foundation of further decisions. Before you start planning actual methods and campaigns, you need to research several key aspects, namely:
- Potential customers to figure out the buyer’s persona and the issues your product might solve for people;
- Audience niches and groups for more personalized marketing messages;
- Industry and common tactics to know what you can apply;
- Competitors, their shares, their messages, communication channels, and methods;
- The history of similar products or services to gain a competitive edge.
The more you know, the more fact-based decisions you’ll be able to make. This maximizes effectiveness and reduces potential risks.
Step 2. Draft a Plan
The next step is to draft the plan for your future campaigns and efforts. This includes:
- Create clear buyer’s personas;
- Set your business goals;
- Set KPIs and specific deadlines;
- Define preferred marketing channels;
- Set the budget.
Overall, all the campaigns can be separated into online and offline ones. A lot of startups and small businesses put more focus on digital marketing as it is effective, budget-friendly, and open to everyone.
However, traditional or offline methods can also be beneficial depending on your goals, products, and budget.
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Step 3. Write a Plan for Each Strategy
As soon as you’ve decided on your priorities, it is time to get into details. For example, you might settle on such strategies as:
- Email marketing;
- SEO;
- Content creation;
- Social Media;
- Event marketing.
This is a pretty big set of tasks, and the number of strategies you cover depends on your team and resources. But every one of them should be planned separately in terms of campaigns, KPIs, deadlines, and tactics. It is better to rely on the best practices and competitor research at first.
Chances are you are new to this, so it is better to start with the easiest and most effective channels. However, if you have unique ideas, there is always a place for experimentation.
Step 4. Define the Brand’s Positioning
The basis of successful marketing is clear brand positioning. This means that you need to define your brand in terms of value and proposition. What is the main idea behind the product? What problems can it solve for people? What value does your brand stand for?
This sets the tone and style or message you are going to convey to the audience. For instance, a brand aimed at the younger generation might be more dynamic, flexible, and tech-savvy with its positioning. On the other hand, a brand aimed at the B2B market or well-established professionals might emphasize stability, functionality, and status. Compare the advertisement messages of Tik Tok and LinkedIn to get a better idea of it.
When you define the brand’s identity, it is essential to create a set of guidelines that cover everything from the specific tone and language used to colors and fonts. The messaging and branding have to be consistent throughout all the platforms and channels.
Read Also: Key Considerations for Selecting Travel Insurance for Students
Step 5. Create a Schedule
Now you have all your basics done, and you can create a schedule with all the work that needs to be done.
It can be a table for 3-6 months that features your strategies. For each strategy, define goals, channels, and tactics.
For example, if you plan to work with content marketing, you can aim to get a specific number of views and reads. As a channel, you can use the company’s blog with appropriate web design. And tactics would be “posting two small articles twice a week and one long-read on Sundays.” After that, you can set deadlines to write and edit each piece. You can also add keywords and links to put in the text.
Social media strategy will have similar objectives but different goals and KPIs. If you are aiming at email marketing, you might set a goal of creating an email list. Define the deadlines and means, like subscriptions, surveys, giveaways, etc.
Conclusion
When you are done with a schedule, you have a list of things to do. It is important to regularly review your tactics, their effectiveness, and possible adjustments. The strategy should not be set in stone. Be more flexible and adopt new methods and practices when needed.
