In today’s business world, marketing is essential for all businesses and brands. Every company must promote its goods and services regardless of industry, size, or launch date. Marketing helps a business introduce its brand to the market so that consumers know what it offers. This can be done through social media, a website, or word-of-mouth. Whatever method businesses choose to market themselves, they need to be strategic.
Many businesses complicate marketing unnecessarily. To keep things simple but effective, it’s important to see marketing as a means of communicating with customers and partners. For instance, when your favorite clothing brand promotes its fall collection, it’s basically informing you about its newest products and inviting you to check them out. It might also be telling you about an ongoing sale and encouraging you to take advantage of the savings. Ultimately, marketing is all about businesses building relationships and connecting with both current and potential customers.
Because marketing is vital for business success, a marketing strategy is especially important as it serves as a guide to maintaining the relationships established with its customers. A marketing strategy is your plan for how, what, when, why, and to whom a business communicates. It’s the intention and the vehicle driving how it wishes to express its brand voice. Some companies have mastered the art of marketing, while others struggle to get their name out there for various reasons. One thing to note about marketing is that having a large budget doesn’t mean the message being communicated hits the mark. For example, studies show that a staggering 47% of businesses in the United Kingdom admit that their websites were perceived as embarrassing by a specific audience. Conversely, 90% of UK businesses are confident that their websites either met or exceeded some or all of their expectations.
For small businesses, marketing can be even more challenging. In the UK, 6 out of 10 small businesses have yet to create a website to establish a presence online. Additionally, 49% don’t know if their marketing efforts are working, and 14% know their efforts aren’t working. That’s because marketing takes strategy, creativity, and money to be effective. So, what does an effective marketing strategy look like? It can be straightforward if businesses are honest about where they are in terms of their brand popularity and awareness, quality of product, and relationship with customers.
When planning your business’s marketing strategy, whether it’s for the first time or not, it’s crucial to be honest about your starting point. Consider it as a roadmap. Identify your target audience and figure out a fair budget; typically, in the UK, a small business’s budget is estimated at around several thousand pounds a year to 7-8% of its gross revenue, while the average business allocates about 9.1% of its total revenue for marketing. Identify the channels that work best for your brand, such as social media, a website, billboards, or other forms of advertising. To know which is best for your brand determines desired outcomes and metrics.
The beauty of marketing strategies is their adaptability – they can be tweaked and modified as needed, ensuring your business stays relevant and effective. And after your marketing plan has been put into action, analyzing your analytics on an ongoing basis is vital to understanding what forms of marketing are effective and what needs modification over time. For instance, in-store marketing is another line item to be considered for businesses with retail stores, as it is highly effective – in-store or face-to-face marketing is 34 times more effective than other digital forms of marketing.
Navigating the digital and retail landscapes can be challenging. However, a strong marketing strategy, along with time, patience, creativity, and a willingness to accept feedback from your team and customers, will help any business with a quality product and excellent customer service to establish a profitable, well-liked, and respected brand.