If you don't know where you're going, chances are you're going to get lost.
Starting a new business is incredibly exciting but can also be stressful. There are many things you need to "get right", with marketing being one of them. Get it right, and you flourish; get it wrong, and you've spent your money with not much to show for it.
Having a solid marketing strategy isn't necessarily about spending tons with consultants or agencies; it's about being clear about your aims, having good foundations in place, and setting realistic expectations for what you can achieve given your resource constraints (budget being a big one in the early stages!).
Here are my 5 'must haves' you should consider if you want to build a solid Marketing strategy:
Tight definition of your Target Audience
Clear Proposition & Substantiated Differentiation
Strong Brand Identity
Prioritised Budget
Clear Goals & Measures
1. Tight definition of Target Audience
You already know a lot about your potential customers from developing or defining your product. Take those learnings and further sharpen who you want to target with your marketing activities. This should not only be narrower in scale, but also tighter in definition.
When defining an audience, use a combination of demographic as well as attitudinal/interest-based descriptors, as these will make messaging richer and media targeting more accurate.
Here is a quick guide on Target Audience definitions & descriptions.
2. Clear Proposition & Substantiated Differentiation
Your audience will inform the way you talk about your offer. Proposition is essentially an articulation of what's so great about your product/service, done in a way that resonates with those consumers and, importantly, sets you apart from others.
Defining a Proposition is about identifying a problem or a pain-point your consumers have and summarising how your product addresses that pain-point, and how that solution is better or different to others.
The important part here, is to be clear, succinct, and to substantiate those claims with facts.
Here is a little ore on Value Propositions.
3. Strong Brand Identity
If you have a strong foundations, you can build high. Brands are no different - it pays off not to skim on building a strong brand identity. And, it goes further than a logo and a colour palette. You want your brand to have a personality but you also want it to be versatile.
Strong branding will help you to cut through the clutter and enhance stickiness, essentially making every marketing pound (or dollar) work harder!
But the most important about Brand is the consistency with which it is applied. I know it's tempting to "evolve" visual or messaging strategy but consumers don't move as fast as brand owners, so unless you have strong evidence to think otherwise, stick with it!
4. Prioritised budget
Knowing how to allocate budget at early stages can be tough, not least given the uncertainty around costs and performance. But there are some principles that can help you to work through it.
a/ Marketing spend typically accounts to approx 20% of revenue. It does vary on category & audience, and the percentage will be higher at the beginning when revenues are low, but it gives you some idea of where to start.
c/ "Build" to avoid "Burst & Bust". When launching initial activities, build in stages. That gives you the opportunity to test, learn & optimise before increasing budgets substantially.
c/ Don't spread yourself too thin. Select one channel and focus on doing it well before adding more; concentrate your budget into one good month, rather stretching it across two; and so on.
5. Clear Goals & Measures
From the overall aims to every activity, marketing or otherwise, make sure you set realistic, well defined aims, ideally expressed in numbers.
You'll know what your revenue objectives are - work backwards from there to connect the dots & identify interdependencies. How many customers do you want to acquire by which date, what should be the average basket size, etc. That will allow you to then start understanding how the marketing metrics influence your results - from web traffic to social media engagement.
I strongly recommend investing some time to identity the key metrics that move the needle and putting them all on one page for transparency & ease of monitoring.
In conclusion, creating a winning marketing strategy for your start-up is about clarity, focus, prioritisation and consistency. By defining your target audience, articulating proposition, building strong identity, prioritising budget and setting clear goals that are measured, you can position your start-up for success in the competitive business landscape. Remember, marketing is an ongoing process, so be prepared to adapt and refine your strategy as your business grows and evolves.
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