You
do not need an MBA from Harvard to write marketing strategy. You
just have to put yourself in your customer's shoes.
Marketing means "shopping"
to most people, not "selling." When people "do the
marketing" they go to the store to buy things they want. They don't care about your marketing objectives at all.
They're only interested in themselves.
Step
One: Think
like a Human.
If you want
your product or service to be on the shopping list, ignore the cost of a radio
commercial or the relative benefits of print advertising, for the moment.
Those tactical issues come up later. Instead, ask yourself six simple questions:
1:
Who are you talking to?
2: What's on their minds?
3: What are the real
differences between my brand and the other guys'?
4: How do my differences
benefit people?
5: Why are people reluctant to
try me?
6: How will I track results?
Step
Two: Talk to a Human.
From
your answers, write out a simple Brand Promise. Something on the order of
"Now you can_________, because ______." Focus on your
differences and benefits rather than you similarities and ingredients.
Try to defuse any objections people may have to trying you.
Step
Three: Write Ads.
It's
easy. Just boil your Brand Promise down to a pithy headline and add a
picture of someone using your product. Make it easy for people to call
you or click to your website. Track results. Keep at it.
____________
If you
think marketing and advertising should be a lot more complicated, you're only
partly correct. Execution and fine-tuning can get fairly involved,
but the fundamentals are really quite simple.
If
you'd like an example of how the whole process works, click to The
Marketing Communications Process.
If you're looking for pointers on how to construct an entire Marketing Plan, here's a free template you can use.
