What is Your Marketing Strategy?

"What's my marketing strategy?" This is an obvious question to ask yourself if you're a new business just starting out, but if you've been in business for a number of years, it's always a good idea to ask yourself this very important question from time to time to make sure you're still on goal, or if it's time to change your direction.

A marketing strategy is a process that allows you to take a look at your overall business goals, products and target clients. Your strategy is an important part of your Marketing Plan and the two go hand in hand. It is a good idea to create a marketing strategy before your marketing plan. I put together a few questions that may be of some help when thinking about your marketing strategy. Please do not be afraid to use other resource to help you look further into this subject. The internet is a wealth of knowledge, and there are many great books written on the topic.

• What does your business do? Might seem silly, but it's a good first step to establishing some of the other answers.
• What makes your company unique? If you are having trouble answering this question, try asking your customers why they choose to use your service rather than your competitor.
• Who is your target market? You already know at this point that not everyone will be your "perfect customer" so why not concentrate on finding out who your perfect customer is? What drives them? What are their needs? Why do they choose you versus your competitor?
• How does your product or service make your customer's life better? Do you create a specific feeling for them? Does your product save them time? Does it save them money?
• What would be the best way to reach your customers? Take into consideration your client's age, gender and lifestyle. This information can help you better define the types of advertising you will use to reach your clients.

This is not necessarily the exact time to put together your marketing plan; we will get more into that next month. For now, we just want to collect information and data to work with. You should also consider speaking with your management and staff, you will be surprised at what they may have been told by your customers.

A marketing strategy may seem like a lot of work, but it a wonderful tool; not only will it help you with your marketing plan but this is something you should share with your sales staff. Most of the questions that I asked above are the same ones that top salespeople use everyday.