In Part One we talked about choosing the right marketing strategies for your business based on your strengths, but we left you hangin’ on how to turn those strategies into action.  And that’s all about the tactics.

Tactics are essentially your marketing To-do List.  Once you’ve picked your strategies, a little research should help you determine the tactics you need to start doing.  If for example, you own a luxury, organic dog food company and you’ve decided your best marketing strategies for the year will be publicity, events and social network marketing, how do you go about doing those things?

Let’s start with publicity.  Basic research might consist of reading a handful of luxury publications and making a list of the writers who cover products like yours.  Is there a Pets column in one of the publications?  Is there a New Products
section or a Green Living section?  Read the publications consistently and get a feel for where your product, in this case dog food, would fit in.  Once you have your list, you can contact the publications to receive the email address for the writer you hope will cover your dog food.  Then send an introductory pitch, letting them know that based on what you’ve read of theirs, you think they might be interested in writing about your dog food and here’s why.  And monitor the media.  If a journalist writes a story about say, tainted dog food from China, send them an email about the quality of your food and your production process.  You’re one step closer to serving as your own publicist.

But you also want to utilize some events to help spread the word about your amazing product.  You can go about this a number of ways.  First, you can throw a big launch party at a pet-friendly venue and send invitations to all the dogs you know and their owners, to be forwarded to all the dogs they know and their owners.  The party can be for the dogs – you can have samples of your food, lots of squeaky toys and a giant place to run (don’t forget to feed the owners too – NOT with your dog food).  Parties aren’t usually for dogs, so a media alert to local media may generate some publicity as well.  (That’s killin’ two strategies with one stone – we like tactics like that!)  If you can’t fathom throwing a party for dogs, you might just want to pick some events to co-sponsor.  Aligning with local chapters of the ASPCA to create some cool and unique fundraising events that you sponsor would go a long way to creating goodwill for your brand.  So call the local ASPCA and find out how you can work with them to do some cause-marketing.

So now you’re on your way with publicity and events…how ‘bout social network marketing?  Let’s start with the basics - does your dog food company have a profile for social networks?  If you want to grow your network, try using a little creativity like creating a profile for one of your customers.  (And not of the person buying the dog food, but the dog that’s eating it!)  Does your company have a blog about pet issues (Another tactic you might consider)?  Blogging in the voice of the dog (think company “mascot”) could go a long way to generating viral online marketing.  Back to those social network profiles…how about creating an application that lets people bark at each other, wag their tails, send doggie kisses (or bite if they’re in a foul mood)?  Also, do a little research – is there a specific pet-owner social network?  If so, join and build your network.

None of these tactics are extremely expensive – they’re more time consuming.  But ideally, if you’ve chosen strategies based on your strengths, you should be able to handle many of them on your own or with the help of your staff.  But there may be times when you need to call upon professionals for assistance, such as a graphic designer, a web developer or a media relations specialist. 

Next week we’ll touch on creating a timeline for your campaign.  This will help you prioritize your tactics and give you a clear picture of who is going to be completing which steps along the way.  Woof!