Marketing???
Do you really need a marketing strategy?
What should you pay for it?
What should expect to get?
How do you know it's the right one for your business?
How do you know it will work?
What should you pay for it?
What should expect to get?
How do you know it's the right one for your business?
How do you know it will work?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Warren Whitlock on
-
Everyone has a marketing strategy... most aren't thought out, and majority are not getting the results they would like.
Maybe you mean a "Marketing Strategy" document. Well, the best strategies can be communicated as the essence of the business, the elevator speech.
You only need more if you want more. In my experience, the biggest successes have the biggest plan (not the biggest document.. but a real plan of action)
-
Permalink Reply by Henrietta on -
What is it that they say - Fail to plan and you plan to fail.
You already know you need a marketing strategy - how you will market your product or service, even if you haven't actually put it in writing. If you know your product and service you know some of how you had planned to reach your customers. So you know at least some of the tactics that will work or your business?
If you have already started your business, you know more than you think you do. And you don't know if a strategy will work until you try it, using your gut instincts, and then measure, measure, measure!
Hmmm, maybe you are just talking about the actual document. I'd suggest initially just writing it out yourself, what you know about your product or service and what you think will work, how you'll measure your success. I promise you it will pay to write stuff down, if only to have something in writing to show if you do decide to invest in hiring a marketing consultant.
-
Permalink Reply by Jerry Bader on
-
Do you really need a marketing strategy?
I find that most clients really don't understand or distinguish the difference between strategy and tactics. Strategy is the 'big idea' or what's referred to in the movie trade as the 'high concept'. Tactics are the techniques used to implement strategy. Many entrepreneurial companies confuse the two and think tactics are strategy.
The classic text book example is the decline of railroad companies who at their peek where the most powerful companies in the US, but because they defined themselves as railroad companies and not transportation companies they failed to take advantage of emerging competitive options like trucking and airlines.
So to answer your question you need a strategy, a big idea that you always come back to in order to determine if what you plan to do next is right for your company.
Where to start? Define who you are (as a company); what you do; and why your audience should care.
What should you pay for it?
If you needed a doctor you wouldn't ask what you should pay for would you? What you pay for is expertise from someone you trust, someone who relates to you, who can help you define your real strategy, understands your problems, and can help you solve them, suggest appropriate tactics, and implement your strategy; and someone who is not afraid to tell you you're wrong.
What should you expect to get?
There are no magic elixirs, potions or six steps to becoming an instant millionaire. You should expect to fail, try again, and move forward, each time learning something new, refining your tactics, and experimenting with options.
Doing what everybody else is doing or what was done in the past won't work in the Web-based economy.
How do you know it's the right one for your business?
How do you know it will work?
If you're afraid to fail then all you're going to do is repeat what others have done and guarantee failure. You must find expertise that can set your company apart from the competition and make a statement loud and clear, and keep saying it in ways your audience will understand and remember.
Jerry Bader
MRPwebmedia
-
Permalink Reply by Paul Chaney on
-
Jerry, your mention of the railroad industry caught my attention, for it's the same thing our CEO said to us in a management meeting some time back. As such, we've redefined our company from being in the Web content management software business to being in the communication business. Of course, I'm trying to redefine us, through the use of social media, as being in the conversation business...in so far as marketing is concerned.
-
Permalink Reply by Jeffrey Summers on -
Game over, thanks for playing! Great answer!
-
Permalink Reply by Zane Safrit on -
* Yes.
* As much as the budget allows and as little as you need to generate the results you deserve.
* Listen to your employees, customers, vendors and partners. They'll tell you if it's working.
* You don't....until you try it.
-
Permalink Reply by Ashish Sachdeva on -
Marketing should be thought of what you feel works... For me thinking of a strategy is talking to myself what gets me to anything i need. If you can answer that simple question, and think about your own business in the same way would help make a strategy and even get you to tactics.
Something for you to answer the query yourself: You are on internet posting a message to know about marketing...
-
Permalink Reply by Kim Proctor on -
Yes, having a marketing strategy makes good sense. The issue is what should it include? Many folks overlook that you can "market" to exist customers and potential customers. Make sure if you develop one or hire someone to help you, please include existing cutsomers. And please include guiding principles like not over communicating to customers or sending them irrevelant messages - that never works.
Good luck. It's all trial and error, but you can hire someone to help you think through how your current and potential customers most value what you can offer them. That is what marketing is - telling your audience how you can help them. It's really a communication plan.
-
Permalink Reply by Mark G on -
Melanie,
I believe in the KISS principle.
Do you really need a marketing strategy? - Yes.
What should you pay for it? - Results.
What should expect to get? - Results.
How do you know it's the right one for your business? - Can you measure the results?
How do you know it will work? - Does it have a track record of producing results?
Results 'is stuff' you can put in the bank. Everything else is mythology.
-
Permalink Reply by harrybusinessmarketing on -
Yes we require a marketing strategy to make or break your business.
The best marketing strategy is the one that gains profits.In reality, any marketing strategy is going to cost you a little bit of money.
But if you look in the right places and follow some good advice, your marketing strategy should leave you coming out on top.
-
Permalink Reply by harrybusinessmarketing on
-
We need a marketing strategy for promotion of business. Promotion and advertising will help you get the targeted traffic that you want in the early run of your Internet marketing career. In fact, the cost of promoting and advertising your site on the Internet is not as expensive as advertising your products and services through conventional methods such as billboards and classified ads of different newspapers. Even if you do not have that large marketing budget, you can still promote and advertise your site using various alternative and low-cost promotional methods.
-
Permalink Reply by Nancy on -
hello all,
"What is it that they say - Fail to plan and you plan to fail."
Yes, this is so true----I am so good at the initial stages but poor on the follow through. I think I have a good plan, but when it seems to stop working, I do not redo it or something.
I guess that is common for a small business owner, but certainly not a smart thing to do. I need to keep reminding myself to track and look at results from any marketing campaigns. Or maybe it is "tactics" that I am missing out on?
for all your tracking needs....call tracking
Birthdays
Badge
About
© 2010 Created by Ben McConnell
