There are many unique strategies that people use when it comes to hunting wild game. Hunters incorporate everything from special camouflaged attire and utilizing the appropriate call to choosing the right gun and load. Each strategy and tactic they use in combination aims to reach the perfect opportunity for a targeted shot. Fortunately, businesses can also use this same mindset to develop a successful targeted marketing plan.
The following article discusses how you can amp up your online marketing success by developing a targeted marketing plan with IMPACT.
Jump to the marketing development strategies now!
- Establish your game plan and objectives.
- Know your targeted audience.
- Use relevant messaging.
- Develop marketing strategies and tactics that will WORK for your customers.
- Set the timing right.
Now is the time to plan like never before and set future company goals.
Planning is vital to providing a sense of direction for reaching business goals and obtaining a significant ROI. However, due to the age of coronavirus COVID-19, businesses should no longer think about developing marketing plans traditionally. Gone are the days when staffers come together to create annual plans and campaigns that entirely consist of general ideas for going to market. These planning sessions are no longer sustainable in a world where marketing efforts require doing more with a lot less.
Today, businesses must become more intentional and thoughtful in setting up and carrying out targeted marketing plans. Every IMPACT (Internet Marketing Plan of Action) that BBMS helps a business develop, consists of the five blueprint elements. So, let’s zero in on each component like we’re hunting for turkeys.
1. Your business must establish realistic objectives and set up a marketing plan aim.
First things always come first; every company has revenue goals they want to reach in order to grow. However, there are business goals as well as marketing goals to consider. And before setting your marketing milestones, you’ll first want to establish your business goals. Lastly, you’ll want to learn how to marry your business and marketing goals into a solid marketing plan, which is where we come in.
Determine your overall business goals.
Regardless of whether your organization is non-profit or for-profit, small or corporate-sized, you must have goals. Goals provide purpose and establish your “WHY” or reason for doing business. Three of the most common goals include:
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- Increasing annual revenues and ROI
- Adding customer value
- Improving and/or increasing a customer service base
Although companies can establish many more goals for themselves, there are essential aspects for each one. For example, goals must be realistic, measurable, and cater to customer needs. At the same time, every business goal needs a supportive marketing goal.
Get help with creating concrete and supportive marketing goals.
Over the years, we’ve learned that supportive marketing goals are essential to a relevant and well-thought-out marketing plan of action. They also have a few key attributes that are similar to business goals. Marketing goals must be “smart”:
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- Specific
- Measurable
- Assignable
- Realistic
- Time-related
As we’ve mentioned many times before, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail. This instance is especially true if your organization’s marketing goals don’t support overall business goals. Goals help you establish a basis for smart planning and strategizing. Moreover, goals provide a foundation for accountability and help us see where we are in the quest for marketing success.
2. Every targeted marketing plan has a targeted audience reach in mind.
Most companies know their target audience and who they’re marketing products and services to. Yet, some of those same businesses may not precisely understand their audience’s needs, wants, or decision-making processes. And these elements are crucial to your business’ overall reach.
Although part of targeting your audience is knowing demographics, like age, household income, gender, and regional location, you must also learn more detailed information. Today, companies have to tap into their target audience behaviors, online search patterns, and psychographic attributes. These types of demographics provide another level of understanding, which is key to consistently reaching your audience.
Experienced marketers will help you discover more details about your audiences’ mindsets, habits, and challenges. For example, at BUILDINGBLOCKS, we provide opportunities to help businesses gain additional insights from their current and potential client base through quantitative and qualitative research. Yet, regardless of how we help your company better understand your target market, obtaining these vital insights requires time and investment to produce more effective strategies and tactics.
3. Presenting relevant messaging to your audience is another vital element of a targeted marketing plan.
Crafting the right kind of messaging is paramount to making relevant connections to your audience. An effective plan with IMPACT must incorporate brand messaging that speaks the language and voice of your clients and potential customers. Unfortunately, too many companies lack messaging that can make long-term connections and promote overall conversion rates.
It’s helpful that your company establishes a brand position, craft messaging to support that position, and then incorporate messaging into multiple marketing platforms. Essential food for thought: Remember that messaging provides an explanation and the value of what you can provide for your customers. It informs them that you have the solution to their problem and the information they’re looking for.
4. Don’t forget to develop key strategies and tactics that you can execute as part of your plan.
We’ve mentioned before that there’s a difference between online marketing strategies and tactics. And since both elements aren’t the same, businesses must learn how to incorporate both of them into their marketing plan correctly. Think of the difference between the two as this: If a strategy is what you need to do, the tactic is what you’ll use to accomplish it.
- Tactic – a specific tool that businesses can use to execute a strategy or various strategies.
- Strategy – the approach or method for achieving your business marketing goals.
5. With any marketing plan, timing is everything!
Excellent planning takes time, and timing is crucial to a successful marketing plan. When businesses want to pull off a successful campaign, their timing is often influenced by:
- The company fiscal year budget cycle
- Sales promotion dates, launches of a new product, service, website, and business openings or events.
- Calendar festivals, holidays, and seasons.
Successful campaigns incorporate a realistic timeline to accommodate the above influencers and accomplish their goals. Yet, great marketing plans go a step further by projecting how it will support sales revenues over time.
Get ready, set, aim, and fire!
Like the turkey hunter, you should carefully set your aim dead on the target before taking a shot. That set-up in the world of business is known as developing the marketing plan. BUILDINGBLOCKS’ IMPACT (Internet Marketing Plan of Action) helps businesses to do away with traditional planning tasks by offering a solution that guarantees online marketing success. Our relevant strategies and tactics help you obtain optimal marketing success every time.
However, you should always consider your budget because planning is an investment of both time and finances. As with any company, you’ll know what your goals and marketing-spend should be in order to obtain the success your business needs.
If you’re ready to establish a comprehensive or straightforward marketing plan of action for your business, connect with us today. We help you develop the right plan the first time! Call 281-203-0529.
As always, stay safe & stay well! Please check out the latest celebration tips from the CDC.
Reference
- Featured Image – Business marketing photo by Merakist.
