Quick review: When we arrived on this blog, we established how we feel about marketing without a plan (that it’s pretty much like planning to fail) and that a good marketing plan starts with a clear objective. “Then what?” you asked…so last week we filled ya in on crafting the right messages for the right audiences. This week, it’s all about gettin’ to the marketing nitty-gritty – strategies and tactics.
By now you have an idea of what you want to say about your company and who you want to say it to, but how are you planning to say it to them? These days sending smoke signals or putting a guy on a soap box seems a little old-school. You already know there are tons of ways to get your message out there, but you may be wondering how to choose the strategies that are right for you?
First, you’ve gotta assess your organization’s strengths. Are you a good writer? Do you have a lot of contacts? Publicity might work for you. Does your company have a cool physical space? Hosting an event could grab you an audience. Are you an e-commerce company that needs to drive traffic to your site? Strong email, social network and viral marketing programs have to be your base.
Sometimes we have so many strengths that we develop a grocery list of strategies! But a good plan is all about focus, focus, focus. So for the purpose of a one-year marketing campaign, stick to just three or four strategies tops. Then you can focus on doing them really well and really consistently. That means if you decide to do your marketing this year through publicity, events and social networks, DON’T spend any resources on the magazine ad that guy keeps calling about. And don’t just try a direct mail postcard to see if you get any customers from it. Show your strategies some love and stick to them for a year – that’s the only way you’re ever really gonna know if they’re working. And if one of them doesn’t work, you can try that magazine ad next year!
If you’ve read our previous posts, you’ll know we like using a luxury dog food company as our example…so here we go again with the dog food. For 2008, our luxury dog food company has decided to focus its marketing efforts on (yep, you guessed it) publicity, events and social networks. Sounds like great strategies for a luxury dog food company right? Now what exactly do they have to do to make those strategies work for them? Ah...Marketing Nitty-Gritty Part Two. Next week it’s all about the tactics.
About Danielle Walsmith/Lauren Tarne:
Lauren Tarne and Danielle Walsmith believe that behind every great plan lies great planners. With backgrounds in media arts and strategic public relations, Lauren and Danielle have developed and implemented communications strategy plans for individuals, nonprofit organizations, startups, small businesses and Fortune 500 companies. They are currently managing partners of Sweet Talk PR, where they focus on providing clients with the right marketing, public relations and event planning strategies.
They are members of the International Association of Business Communicators, the Public Relations Society of America, the American Marketing Association, and contribute almost daily, to their business blog, "Adventures in Candyland". They are not sisters, but they might as well be.