To be successful in today’s digitally-driven world, your business and the actions you take to market it should follow a carefully developed marketing strategy. A well-considered strategy begins with defining your business goals and objectives and deciding on how you plan to achieve them.
DEFINE YOUR GOALS
Your business goals could be broad: increasing awareness of your brands and product lines, or specific: reach a new customer segment and sell more from _____ brand. Regardless of what your goals are (and before you begin spending any money signing up for marketing services), you should have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, how soon you want to see it happen, and how much time and money you are willing to invest.
UNDERSTAND WHO YOU’RE TARGETING
Once you understand your goals, you need to make sure you know your market. In other words: it’s time to get to know your customer. Successful businesses typically create buyer personas to simplify who they’re trying to reach. Understand who your target customer is: their demographics, interests, what they value and what problems they experience. Your marketing message should be customized to speak directly to this person, spike their interest and help them see the value of your business. The creation of a customer persona can lead to content effectiveness improving by 60%, meaning a bigger ROI for your business. (https://kapost.com/content-marketing-facts/)
For more information on buyer personas, click here to read more or download a free template showing you how to create your own.
RESEARCH YOUR COMPETITION
Once you know who you’re targeting, begin researching your competition. Your direct competitors are most likely selling the same (or similar) products, in the same region, to the same customers. Studying what has worked for them will give you a head start in finding out what tactics and marketing channels have been successful in your niche. This is a very important step in setting you up for success.
KNOW WHAT SETS YOU APART
Lastly, get familiar with your unique value proposition – what about your business solves your customer’s problem better than your competitor. Is it the sales process? Your financing options or lifetime warranties? Maybe it’s your certified service department? Whatever it is, start thinking about how you can communicate that to your customers and prove why they should stop by your dealership before they visit the dealer down the road.
Once you have done this, you should have a good start on your strategy.
You have:
- Defined your goals
- Recognized your target audience
- Identified what others have done to be successful
- Decided what sets you apart from the competition
Every good marketing strategy is based on proper planning. Now you need to put your plan into action! Learn how to pick the right digital tools for success in ARI’s Online Lead Generation Playbook. You’ve done the heavy lifting, let our experts help you put it in motion.
