Being off course by one degree doesn’t matter at first…you hardly notice it. But over time, arriving at a very different destination than you’d intended is the power of the “one degree effect.” That’s the importance of strategy done right.
Strategy and Planning
Finding true north is challenging in an environment of competing priorities and a shifting business landscape. Whether it’s for an annual marketing plan or for a specific marketing initiative, having a framework keeps progress on track and serves as a baseline if any course-correction is needed.
Objectives
Identify and validate prioritized measurable business objectives. Identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to establish measurement dashboards and anticipated actions.
Recommendations
Analyze in-house customer data and stakeholder input. Synthesize with secondary research to identify strategic opportunities and proactively address challenges.
Execution Plan
Gain consensus on roles, responsibilities, milestones, and timelines for key objectives. Further ensure each objective has strategies and tactics that can be measured.
Metrics & Refinement
Using metrics and KPIs identified at the Objectives stage, analyze findings and refine execution on a regular cadence. Dig beneath the data to understand qualitative insights.
Competitive Analysis
Your business landscape is a set of concentric circles. Your organization is at the center, your competitors at the next ring, the industry next, and the larger economy at the outermost ring. This expanded view often uncovers key insights and helps organizations better set their priorities.
Your Organization
Blending in-house data with stakeholder input can yield a useful SWOT analysis and any updates on positioning.
Competitive Landscape
Research into direct and near competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, looking for opportunities to improve or differentiate.
Industry Landscape
Finding relevant industry data can sometimes uncover trends in products, services, audience proclivities, media channels and buying behavior.
Economic Landscape
Most often overlooked, looking at the broader economic landscape can prepare a business to outperform its competition if it can adapt to trends.
Customer Architecture
Your customers are real people. You can call them “users,” “visitors,” or “buyers,” but the better you can relate to them as individuals, the better you can ensure your product or service meets their needs.
Customer Data
This is a deep dive looking at demographics, psychographics, competitive, and in-house usage/engagement data.
Segmentation
Using findings, begin to group audience into prioritized segments which identify how your organization meets their unique needs.
Audience Personas
This exercise brings Segmentation findings to life and helps identify each audience type’s needs, pain points and Buyer’s Journey.
Content Marketing
Chaotic content is just noise. Having your organization’s content planned, mapped and measured will help it rise above the din of the competition and provide more thoughtful opportunities for customer connection.
Messaging Architecture
For consistency and clarity, every organization can benefit from a formalized architecture that creates a branded messaging blueprint. With components including benefit-oriented messaging, the messaging architecture becomes a frame of reference for everything from ad campaigns to customer service scripts.
Editorial Calendar
An omnichannel editorial calendar provides consistency across customer touchpoints. In addition to establishing a development plan that helps guide and manage execution, it provides a roadmap that supports thought leadership. Lastly, organizations gain meaningful metrics by virtue of synthesizing across platforms.
Need an outside perspective on marketing strategy?
A fresh take on your go-to-market plan can help build on the risk and opportunities your team has identified.