Jeff Caplinger
Even the best product is useless if no one knows you have it. However, we’ll take this statement even further. If you can’t convince your audience that your products are worth what you’re charging and that they’re getting their money’s worth, you won’t have that many buyers.
This is the role of your marketing strategy.
Still, before you can start dealing with marketing, there are so many things you need to figure out. These are the issues regarding your target audience, your budget, and even your product.
Here are a few tips to help you out.
1.Know your audience and your product
There’s a reason Louis Vuitton is never on sale. Whatever is left over is usually destroyed rather than sold at a discount. Sure, this may cause a situation where they miss out on some profit temporarily, but they also avoid devaluing their product.
Not only that, they’re aware of the fact that their audience is there to buy a luxury product. Some are even buying designer bags as an alternative investment. Anything that could diminish their value would, therefore, be a horrible move from both the perspectives of sales and marketing.
Before you start crafting a marketing strategy, you need to figure out the strongest USP of your product – is this a budget product or a luxury product? Is cost-effectiveness your strongest feature, or is it performance? Some people are willing to pay for the best, regardless of the cost. Others want to know that they’re getting the best ROI for their money’s worth.
The key to knowing if your product and your audience are in sync is to do some research on your audience.
You see, different demographic groups have different priorities and perspectives. Not only that, but these might even affect the channels that you’re using to push your message.
Just think about it: whether you’ll use Pinterest or LinkedIn depends on the demographic that you’re targeting.
2.Coordinate sales and marketing teams
Your price will affect the cost of your product but the same is true the other way around, as well. Previously, we’ve mentioned determining if your product is budget or luxury. However, according to specialists behind a prestigious marketing agency from Minneapolis, there’s more to it than just that.
First of all, you need to understand that luxury sometimes needs to be justified. People don’t want to be represented by the cheapest lawyer or operated on by the cheapest surgeon. At other times, however, a lower price is important.
Next, your marketing teams will have an easy time figuring out the right moment to launch a campaign. The problem is that they can’t just arbitrarily cut 50% of the product without regard for the larger picture.
What they need to do is come up with an analysis and a projection that they can present to the sales team or CFO. Then, they need to consult them about the potential discound and ask now much can they go down.
There needs to be an active collaboration between these two departments for this situation to yield any viable results. You’re only offering discount if you expect this increase in sales to last.
3.Set a marketing budget (and a cost-control plan)
There’s no marketing without a marketing budget.
There’s a huge misconception about digital marketing being free. Can you host a blog for free? Yes, you can! Will the results be even close to that of a professionally-hosted blog? Not a chance! The same goes for posting things on social media for free as opposed to sponsored content. The difference in reach is just incredible.
Then, there’s the issue of digital marketing agencies and outsourcing. Sure, there are some DIY SEO tricks that could work quite effectively, but the results will never be the same as those of a professional DIY campaigns.
Running your personal social media account and running social media for your business are definitely not the same. So, you might have to hire a social media manager, as well. Getting a professional is not inexpensive, and if you want them to try, you need to compensate them generally.
Now, the marketing budget differs from one company to another. Usually, it’s anywhere from 2% to 5% of your average annual revenue. It all comes down to your current ambitions, your objectives, and the competitiveness of your industry. You usually can’t get away with spending less when everyone else is spending more.
4.Combine different methods
There’s a reason why so many entrepreneurs are studying ancient warfare and politics. You see, the thing is that there are so many valuable lessons you can learn from books like The Art of War or The Prince. For instance, the value of deceptions in appearing strong when you’re weak and appearing weak when you are strong is something that can greatly benefit you in the business world.
The most important lesson comes from the military strategy – the way to win on the battlefield is through the art of combined arms.
First, you pound your adversary with artillery until their formation breaks; then, you send in the cavalry and infantry to mop the enemy up.
The same thing goes for digital marketing.
You need to combine different methods for maximum effect.
For instance, an SEO campaign is an incredibly valuable move for any digital marketing objective, but it will take a while to have an effect. Therefore, if you combine it with PPC, a method that gives immediate results but only while you’re paying, you can speed up the process. The increased traffic from PPC will boost your SEO metrics, making it faster to rank and climb higher on the SERPs.
The same goes for email marketing strategy, social media strategy, and a few other methods.
You can also use modern formats like live streaming and podcasting.
Wrap up
The success of a digital marketing campaign mostly depends on your goals and expectations. Still, in order to make the right campaign, you cannot observe it as a standalone issue. It depends on your product, your audience, and your marketing budget. You also need to combine different marketing methods for maximum effect.
