HOW TO CREATE A MARKETING STRATEGY FOR REAL RESULTS
A content strategy can help you drive more traffic to your website in 2020.
If you are looking to:
– Generate more traffic
– Increase leads / sales
– Gain customer trust
This guide will help you create a marketing strategy that will drive real results, we’ve revealed the key areas you need to consider.
Let’s get started.
New year, new marketing strategy – does that sound about right?
As we welcome in 2020, the focus for many businesses will be creating a marketing strategy that can increase leads or sales. But getting that marketing strategy right is a fine art.
It’s not just about putting your budget into ads or pushing some big PR campaign, any marketing strategy that is genuinely going to deliver results needs to be a solid plan, with actions, insight and analysis.
To guide you into creating a marketing strategy that will drive real results, we’ve revealed the key areas you need to consider.
What’s the Goal?
What are you hoping to achieve from your marketing strategy? – That’s our question to you.
Do you want to see an increase in sales or enquiries? – If so, your goal needs to have a number to make it measurable. It needs to have a real outcome attached to it.
We’ve seen many ‘fluffy’ marketing strategies that talk about brand awareness. And while this is great for existing brands who are already doing well in the market, this doesn’t help a struggling or growing business that needs sales in order to flourish.
Be honest about what your marketing needs to achieve.
63%
of companies state increasing
leads / sales is their
biggest challenge 2019
What’s the
budget?
No matter your budget, you make a marketing strategy that will help you see a return on your investment.
After all, it’s not about how big your budget is; it’s about how clear you are about what you want to achieve.
We’ve supported a number of business achieve incredible results for a small budget. Quality doesn’t drop, nor does the focus because the goal directs the decisions.
Get real with how much you are willing to invest in your marketing strategy. Is this going to cover all the areas you wish to test?
Know Your
Customers
You simply cannot create a marketing strategy without who you’re marketing to in the first place. That’s like a boat without a paddle!
Understanding your target audience is vital in helping you navigate where to put your budget, and how to spend it in order to get the best possible results.
Creating a buyer persona can provide you with clarity on who your customers are, what their pain points are, and where they are most likely to engage online.
Without this insight, you can waste a lot of money on channels that provide zero return.
Find Your
Channels
Social media, email marketing, Google Advertising, social advertising – the list goes on with how many channels you can utilise in your marketing strategy, so how do you find the ones that will work to help you achieve your goal?
When you think of any channel, it’s best to imagine them all as a toolbox; there are lots of tools in the marketing tool kit, but not every one of them is fit for the job.
Once you understand your customer, your goal, and your budget, you’ll know where best to put your money in order to achieve results.
Without a doubt, your website needs to be ranking well in Google. After all, the higher it ranks organically, the better chance you’ll have to reduce your Ad spend.
Social media marketing is also a murky ground. If you are a consumer product, then advertising on social media, and utilising these platforms is critical. However, they’re not as effective for B2B brands. So if your business is in this arena, don’t waste your budget.
Google Ads, can be a highly effective channel, especially when you understand a customers intention behind their search. Get to know what your customers are possibly searching for, and you can be onto a winner.
But for each of these channels, you must think about the messaging, and how you’re going to make them convert. After all, you can build a great looking advert, but when they reach the site, they could be less impressed.
Analyse
Following a plan, mindlessly is madness. You can waste energy, time and money on a campaign that isn’t working.
Consistently assess how your strategy is going and keep track of the results.
Doing a regular SWOT analysis can enable you to see where your marketing strategy is performing the best and where it is weakest.
By learning to analyse your marketing strategy after every month, you can be more proactive than reactive.
Install goal tracking on your website, especially on contact forms and products so that you can have a clear picture of how your website is performing and what is leading people to your website.
Needing support with your content strategy?
Book a discovery call
Dean Lynn
Managing Director
Dean is the Founder of Trusted Media and has over fifteen years experience of commercial business marketing. If you ever meet Dean, you’ll quickly realise how honest and straight to the point he is; something his clients love about his marketing approach. When Dean’s not at Trusted Media providing marketing consultancy to clients, he can be found at home with his daughter, who loves creating (breaking) things. Dean never sits still, enjoys eating food (part-time #instafoodie), and finds his happy place in the kitchen baking or in the garden.
