You have a marketing communication idea, but you’re not sure how to take it from just an idea to tangible value delivered. In this blog post, I’ll go over the 8 steps to creating a piece of marketing communication that helps achieve tangible value. In the communication process, the __________ encodes the marketing communication message.
You’ve got a great marketing idea. You know the market you’re targeting and you’ve done your research. Now it’s time to take your idea from good to great. Successfully promoting a brand or service is not just about making sure people get it; it’s also about effectively attracting and converting those potential customers so they’ll think of you every time they have a need for what you offer.
Step 1: Create Brand Identity
Start by brainstorming the three to four key words you’d like to promote. Even if your fans already know what you do, it’s still important to have a name that communicates what you do as clearly as possible. Your brand identity is how you see yourself or your company. Create a logo, visual identity, color scheme and other design elements that will help you stand out from the competition.
Step 2: Leverage Your Media Assets
Take a good look at your current assets, including digital content (website, social media channels, email marketing) and physical assets (business cards, brochures). Once you’ve created a visual identity, start creating your brand presence with: advertising and promotional materials; an easy-to-remember URL; media kit with photos, testimonials and more; family of websites; social media profiles; etc.
Step 3: Identify Target Customers
Who is your target customer? What do they like? What’s their lifestyle like? In order to reach your potential customers, you’ll have to speak their language. The more you know about them, the better you can design your marketing campaign and promotional materials to be relevant to them. Go beyond just demographic characteristics and discover who should be buying/using your product or service. The better you can identify your target market, the more effectively you’ll be able to lead them to success.
Step 4: Leverage Your Assets
Create a Marketing Assets Inventory to assess what you already have in your marketing toolkit. List your assets, including both online and offline. Look for assets that can be integrated into a cohesive call to action, such as promotion codes, loyalty programs and special offers. The more people know about your brand or service, the better it will translate into sales. Get out in front of potential clients and develop a relationship that goes beyond just dealing with them as a customer.
Step 5: Assess Marketing Practices
Review your past marketing efforts and identify common challenges. Evaluate the content produced and determine whether it was effective in conveying the right information to the right people, at the right time. Be sure your marketing materials are consistent with your brand’s visual identity. Once you’ve identified potential customers, begin assessing your marketing and promotional strategies. Any company can run traditional advertising campaigns; what makes you stand out from the crowd is how well you hone in on those prospects and deliver results to those who are most likely to buy.
Step 6: Measure Results
Analyze the results of your past marketing efforts, from print ads and direct mail campaigns to internet marketing, trade shows, search engine optimization and more. A good marketing strategy gives you an idea of how well you’re doing, but to really know whether your tactics are working, you need to track results with analytics and determine what led to the highest level of customer engagement. Of course, this process is not a one-time exercise. You must constantly update your knowledge base and evaluate your marketing efforts as a regular part of the business plan.
Step 7: Continue Your Success
You’ve done it! You’ve created a marketing communication strategy that attracts and converts the customers you want to reach. Don’t forget to reward yourself for your success. Promoting your brand is an ongoing process. You worked hard to get where you are and now it’s time to take those skills and keep pulling in the customers. Marketing is an ongoing process and there are many ways to improve your ability to reach out and bring more customers into the fold.
Step 8: Repeat the Process
When you’ve achieved measurable success, it’s time to repeat the process. Identify your new target customer and go through each of the steps outlined above.
Summary:
The outcome of your marketing is determined by numerous factors. Knowing the market, your competitors and your target customers are all part of the process that goes into promoting a good idea. Beyond traditional marketing, one of the most successful ways to increase consumer awareness is through social media. Building up your professional online presence and becoming an established thought leader helps to increase brand recognition, attract new clients and sell your products or services in a competitive industry. You can effectively use social media sites like LinkedIn and Twitter as well as blogging to get you noticed in a crowd.
