‘Remarkable marketing is the art of building things worth noticing right into your product or service.
Not slapping on marketing as a last-minute add-on.’
Seth Godin
Marketing is both a strategy (thought) and a tactic (action).
At Marketing Sense, we like to focus on the strategy part, before we move on to the action part.
Marketing strategy is a core business function, as the task of strategic marketing planning is centred on driving business growth.
All people in an organisation are to some degree responsible for marketing and as such could be considered ‘marketers.’
Sales, customer service, any staff member that impacts, in any way shape or form, on the customer experience, are in essence a ‘marketer,’ for your organisation.
This is because they contribute towards ‘creating customer value.’
Marketing frequently gets relegated to only one dimension of its role, the tactical; brochures, website, advertising, social media, promotion, PR and sales support materials. Marketing is more often than not, seen as nothing more than the wrapping for the business, or sometimes it is even referred to as the ‘pretty pictures department.’
However the more strategic dimension of the marketer’s role is to ensure the organisation is actively anticipating, creating and delivering products and services that consumers and customers want and need.
The strategic marketing process provides many insights into:
• your business capabilities and drivers
• the creation of new product and service propositions
• opportunities to create value in innovative and differentiated ways
The consumer driven strategic planning phase does of course hugely influence the tactical part of marketing; the communications.
As a result of the strategic planning process you will be able to identify:
• how to position your business in a unique way in the mind of your audience
• the problems that your business solves for your customer
• how to really engage and emotionally connect with your client
• how to develop communication that is relevant, timely and appealing
It is through the consistent communication of superior brand benefits, values and experiences that organisations create value for their customers.
What we hear business owners say:
‘I have tried marketing my business and it just doesn’t work for me. It’s costly and I cannot identify which part is working and which isn’t and besides it just takes up too much time.’
Once we are able to understand what the business has done, in the majority of cases we learn that they are undertaking ‘spray and pray’ marketing tactics.
This means there is:
NO strategic plan
NO understanding of the target market
NO measurable marketing to determine ROI
NO brand values
NO unique positioning
NO understanding of the problem you solve
NO consistent messaging
Develop laser-sharp focus:
Marketing Sense recently helped a client to really understand their position in the market through the strategic marketing planning process:
‘In response to the insights from our customers, employees, suppliers and industry we were able to really understand our core strengths and deliver a product that our customers told us they really valued.
We needed to make some tough decisions and overcome some barriers along the way, but now we really have a sharp focus on where we are headed, which really helps with decision making on a day to day basis.’
Get In Touch
At Marketing Sense, we undertake strategic marketing planning, in partnership with our clients every day, to develop marketing strategies that:
• Create better customer value
• By creating and developing products and services that customers want and need
• Through building brands and customer value propositions that customers find relevant and appealing
• Whilst strengthening the discipline and practice of marketing within the organisation
If you want to learn more about the practical application of strategic marketing planning in your organisation, get in touch and find out how we can help make sense of your marketing.
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