The mode of most marketing programs now is mainly reactive — keeping up with shareholder demands, justifying budgets with analytics, and trying to keeping up with an ocean of tactical options. Nuts and bolts thinking and perfect execution are critical. But they’re also a trap robbing you of the time you need to think strategically.
Wondering what to start? Consider these key strategies to put your business in motion.
Earning Mindshare
The position of your company in the mind of the consumer is the most important strategy of all. Most consumers only retain 3 to 5 products max in any given category. If you’re not among the leaders yet, you have several choices:
- Improve or reposition the product so it’s competitive
- Narrow your niche, so you can lead your category
- Conserve your resources, retreat, and try again
- Change the marketing if you think messaging is the problem
- Sell your company to a competitor
Marketing is the tool you use to advance your brand in the consumer’s mind. But unless your product is in place, and you have the potential to become a leader in your category, it’s just an expensive diversion.
Instead of chipping away at territory firmly held by much larger and entrenched competitors, use smart strategies to own a market you define.
Location: Find the Sweet Spot for Your Business
As generals from Sun Tzu to Eisenhower to Sam Walton can attest, location is everything. For businesses, though, location isn’t just geographical space a store occupies; it’s the place your brand occupies in the mind of the consumer, your employees and competition.
Step one. Find your place in the market and occupy it. You’ll need a branding proposition, an opportunistic location, and a market niche you can dominate. Wal-Mart’s strategy, for instance, was to become the single source supplier for every small town in America. It wasn’t considered a lucrative market for other chain stores, but Wal-Mart drove down costs in its stores and throughout its distribution chain. As a result, Wal-Mart is not only hugely successful as a business; it’s also very difficult to attack strategically.
All Roads Should Point to Your Website
Your web space, including your website, social media, blogs, and web advertising, is the most important hub of your brand. Delivering and coordinating the messages through these channels is also a challenge. So consider how easy or difficult is it to access your site via search, backlinks, social media, or referrals? Just like a hot retail location, better access and more traffic convert to sales.
Relationships with Competitors
We tend to become preoccupied with our own business and ignore what’s happening in the minds of our competitors. Our stance is often hostile, while we would benefit more from quietly pursuing our objectives and maintaining friendly relationships with the bad guys.
Until you’re ready to make a swift move in the market, don’t allow your business to be perceived as a threat to your competitors. Instead of ceding ground to you, your larger competitor will react by throwing up obstacles, or deciding to enter the fray themselves. Secrecy is underrated.
Marketing Strategy Tips
- Don’t expend valuable resources fighting larger competitors, go around them.
- Make sure your product has a unique benefit or experience that consumers need and want.
- Seek accessibility through search engine marketing and numerous backlinks in the same way you would demand access and parking for a retail store.
- Create a strategy that will earn a leadership position in the prospect’s mind.
- As they tell horse handlers, “move slow and keep your hands low.” Don’t act overtly aggressive toward competitors, or they might decide to squash you.
- Innovate continuously otherwise your customers will become bored with you.
Please leave your thoughts on strategy in the comments below.
For information about creating a strategy for your business, call Susan Abramovitz, president and branding director at 513-947-1444, ext. 10