“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
Marketing is not advertising. Marketing is a process - a combination of multiple variables that have to work together to succeed. It's not just advertising, search engine marketing, monthly emails or a Facebook post, it's the combination of those tactics that sync to form a cohesive message targeted to the right audience at the right time. Not just any message, mind you, but a message that accurately reflects your brand while at the same time, engages your audience.
That’s where Griffin & Co. comes in. We help present your brand to relevant customers actively searching for a solution to their problem that your business can offer, instead of a mass marketing approach. We’ll help you identify the right audience, your competition, the right message and the right mediums to use.
Essential Components To A Marketing Plan:
Audience Identification and Analysis
AUDIENCE IDENTIFICATION & ANALYSIS
Audience identification and analysis is a starting point when developing a marketing strategy. A business cannot market to a company without knowing who that company is and where to reach them. Questions we seek to answer include:
Who is your audience
Demographics
Psychographics
What information are they looking for?
What solution are they searching for?
What problem do they have?
Where would they look to find this information?
Close friends and family members?
Online reviews?
Social Media?
How often are they looking?
What factors influence their decision (psychographics)
Competitor Analysis
Competitor Analysis
Just as with knowing your audience, knowing your competition is key when building your plan. You should know what your competition is offering and how it differs from you. Questions to answer include:
Are there any variations in your competition’s target market vs your own?
Where are your competitors spending their marketing dollars?
How much of their market share are you looking to take?
What do they offer that you do not?
S.W.O.T. Analysis
S.W.O.T. Analysis
With any strategic marketing plan, a SWOT analysis should be conducted. Opportunities and threats can present themselves clearer when time is taken to look at each one. A SWOT analysis helps answer such questions as:
Where are there profit opportunities?
What can your improve upon?
What resources do other businesses have that you may not?
Have there been any market developments?
Has there been any change in market demand for your products or services?
Marketing Message Analysis
Marketing Message Analysis
What are you currently communicating about your products, services and perhaps most importantly, your overall brand? Your company may have the perfect solution to your market’s problem, but are you communicating that correctly and effectively? Sometimes, we need to reevaluate the message we are sending. When reviewing or creating the marketing message, here are some questions we look to answer:
What are all of the current messages you offer?
What is your 15-30 second elevator pitch?
What unique message resulted in a new customer for your vs your competition?
What are four items you would like to convey to customers?
Marketing Implemenation
Marketing Implementation
Analyzing your audience, competitors, message and opportunities are all essential when building your marketing strategy, but without the right implementation, they mean nothing. Questions we ask include:
How can we best use your marketing budget?
What is your monthly strategic plan (over 12 months)?
For new clients
For retaining current clients
Can new clients come from existing clients?
What mediums will be the most effective for your strategy?
Search Engine Marketing (SEM: Google ads, etc.)
Social Media (organic and paid)
Blogging and content creation (including SEO)
Email marketing
Mobile apps
Print (Newspapers, magazines, direct mailers)
website, print materials, branding materials, mobile applications, social media, etc
When done correctly, the right mediums can bring a large ROI.