Many companies complain that they don’t see results from their marketing activity, yet they treat marketing differently from other parts of the business, where careful planning is standard practice. As a result, in research we conducted among 102 small—to medium-sized companies, 56% did not have a documented marketing plan. As they say, you can’t manage what you can’t measure! But what are the essential steps in building a strategic and effective marketing plan?
Defining the business brand identity
Firstly, it sounds obvious, but most businesses still need to define who they are, what they do, who they do it for and why it matters. This is about taking an inside-out view of the world: “Based on what we know and who we think we are, what do we want to tell the world?” Putting this in writing ensures that everyone in the company is—quite literally—on the same page.
In our experience, speaking to several managers and employees individually is the best way to understand a business’s identity. People tend to talk more freely when alone, giving insight into the company’s culture, vision, strengths and weaknesses. Following such interviews, we typically prepare a guideline to be workshopped among a core group of executives in a brand identity workshop. The workshop’s outcome is a positioning statement that captures the overall value proposition the business seeks to deliver through its brand.
Understand your ideal customer
Secondly, understanding your ideal customer is a crucial step in the marketing planning process. Once a business has a clear sense of who it is or wants to be, it should take an outside-in view of itself by defining its ideal customer. Who do we want to work with? Where are they? Who are the people we should talk to? How do they currently make decisions? These conversations result in a customer persona and journey map that allows for better, more relevant marketing.
Understanding the customer landscape differs between business and consumer markets. In business-to-business (B2B) markets, customers make purchase decisions as a team based on clearly defined requirements. In contrast, in business-to-consumer (B2C) markets, decisions are made mainly by the individual end-user and tend to be more emotionally driven. A good marketing strategy should account for these differences by, for example, mapping out the decision-making unit of a typical business customer or the emotional drivers of a shopping decision. Engaging in customer research, such as one-on-one interviews and observation, should form part of a marketing planning process.
Agree on the marketing message
Thirdly, a compelling marketing message should be developed once the business brand and ideal customer are clearly defined. A strong message has several layers, namely:
- An attention-grabbing headline
- A benefit statement
- Proof points
- Call to Action
We prefer to consolidate the messaging into a dummy “magazine advert” to bring it to life in combination with visuals. This “ad” can form the foundation of a creative brief or outline for marketing suppliers, such as a digital agency. A communications plan can now be developed to promote the message in support of the business objectives.
From brand positioning to marketing planning
Finally, once the brand is defined and the messaging clarified, it is time to build a marketing plan to guide the communication activity. The best tool to think through a marketing plan is the purchase funnel. It provides a framework for deliberately moving potential customers through the stages of awareness, consideration, and, ultimately, purchase.
Given their limited budgets, small and medium-sized companies should navigate the funnel from the bottom up instead of the top down, as large corporations do. This means the marketing activity should aim at the most direct, short-term customer interactions before stretching into broader communications higher up the funnel with a longer-term focus.
Building a foundation
The “Endorse” phase starts at the bottom of the funnel, which means focusing on customer retention and building loyalty with past and present customers and contacts. Tools like newsletters, social media, and occasional face-to-face interactions strengthen existing connections. However, the trick is to stay in touch without being intrusive.
One level up is where marketing activity should directly support sales activities. At the “Evaluate” stage, potential customers are actively considering a potential purchase, and the job of the marketing function is to ensure the right information is available to support the sales function and facilitate the purchase decision. Tools like well-designed brochures, catalogues, and presentations play a crucial role in this phase.
Expanding your reach
The next level in the purchase funnel is “Explore”, which focuses on making learning about your business easy for potential customers. This includes having a user-friendly website with strong SEO, utilising Google Ads and webinars, and participating in events and tradeshows. This level emphasises credibility and provides a positive user experience to encourage exploration of your offerings.
Finally, “Engage” at the funnel’s opening represents the ultimate goal of reaching a broad audience and capturing their interest. Various marketing channels, such as magazines, billboards, YouTube, radio, paid social, and media advertising, are used to achieve this.
By aligning the marketing plan with the funnel stages, businesses can effectively guide potential customers through awareness, consideration, and conversion. By starting at the bottom, limited funds can be targeted to where they make the most immediate difference. This structured approach ensures marketing efforts are targeted, relevant, and optimised for achieving desired outcomes.
Work with Firejuice
At Firejuice, we offer a marketing strategy workshop that can guide you through each marketing plan step and help you develop a comprehensive and effective strategy.
Learn more about our marketing strategy workshop and contact us to discuss how we can help you achieve your marketing objectives.
