Questions You Must Ask to Build a Strong Marketing Strategy

by | Mar 22, 2019 | blog writing, creative writing | 1,431 comments

Questions You Must Ask to Build a Strong Marketing Strategy

Asking questions and truly listening to the answers is a skill that can help one no matter your profession or walk of life. In this article we’ll touch on the questions you must ask to build a strong marketing strategy. We will look at the importance of crafting a mission statement, analyzing the market you wish to target, creating personas and more.

Any marketing plan begins with research and in learning first, what you want to carry out and why. To create a strong and effective marketing strategy you’ll need to ask effective questions. What is the end game? What do we want to accomplish and why? Who is my target market? Who are my competitors?

If you’re in sales you’ll need to ask: Do people even want this product? What problem does it solve? There are few things worse in sales than building a product or service you think people want, only to find out that the reason nobody came up with this idea before is that nobody wants what you’re selling.

To build a strong marketing strategy we need to first start with a solid foundation.

Crafting A Mission Statement

 

 

A mission statement is the building block upon which a marketing strategy depends. Your mission statement tells your customer who you are, what you do and how you view the world, and what value you offer.

A well-crafted mission statement will help you build a strong marketing strategy, as well as give your employees direction and a sense of purpose. A mission statement sets the tone and answers the question of what you do and why you do it.

Some people gloss over the mission statement as unimportant. Resist that temptation. A mission statement is your first chance of introducing your brand to the world. Make it count.

Market Segment

Consumers today are by and large, much more sophisticated than in the past and a strong marketing strategy will take that into account. With the market moving from mass manufacturing to mass customization companies can’t rely purely on demographics to reach their target market.

Depending on your product or service, you need to decide who your customers are, where they live, what they do, how much money they make, what they like to spend it on, and what might keep them up at night.

The more you drill down, the more specific a marketing plan will be.

Creating Personas

What is a persona? Is it a person? According to UX Magazine, a persona is a cluster of users who show similar behavioral patterns. This may be clear in their purchasing decisions, use of technology or products, service preferences, and lifestyle choices.

Information gleaned through the building of personas will show customer motivations, attitudes and behaviors belong to a common type that is not bound by gender, age, education or income. This allows companies to offer products and solutions that are customized to a niche audience, one that will be interested in what has been created for them.

Study Your Competition

In sales, you will generally want to avoid the temptation to reinvent the wheel. To understand your customers and build a strong marketing strategy is to know your competition. Study them. Know what they are selling, especially if they are selling to customers who fit the persona you’ve built. Understand what your competitors do well and where they may be lacking.

SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

If you’re not familiar with that acronym you should learn it and incorporate this method into building a strong marketing strategy. Taking time to measure the SWOT of your competition as well as your own business is key to your success.

An analysis of your competitors helps you fine-tune a marketing plan and prepares you to better confront competitive challenges. Before using SWOT tools to dissect your competitors, first conduct an in-house analysis to take an honest look at your own company.

“Know thy enemy but not yourself, wallow in defeat every time.” Sun Tzu The Art of War

What’s Your USP?

After you’ve determined your own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of your competitors it’s time to talk about what makes your company unique. A USP or unique selling proposition illustrates what sets you apart from your competition and gives people a reason to want to do business with you. A USP statement identifies what you do better, and gives customers confidence that your company is the right choice.

Your Target Market: How Will You Reach Them?

 

You’re putting the pieces in place and things are coming together and now you’ll need to start thinking about a promotional plan that incorporates all communication that will take place between you and your customer.

Remember, that marketing strategy is the outline, the marketing plan is how you’ll carry out your strategy and your promotional plan is how you will actually reach your target audience.

Promotional plans will vary according to industry and the market segment you’re addressing but in general, they’ll include the following:

  • Advertising

  • Public Relations

  • Direct Sales

  • Internet Marketing

  • Marketing Materials

  • Sales Promotions

  • Corporate Partnerships

These are broad categories and within them, you’ll find many subsets. As mentioned earlier, consumers are more sophisticated today and have come to expect a higher level of customization, whether they’re buying a car or planning a vacation. It is vitally important that your promotional strategy recognizes this. Your promotional plan should be both agile and flexible enough to speak effectively to your potential customers.

In Conclusion

 

When building a marketing strategy you must first begin with questions that will hopefully give the answers needed to be successful. Begin with your mission statement, decide what you want to do and why and what core values will represent your brand. Ask who your customers are and then go about building personas that will represent them, their behaviors and desires. Study your competition after first studying yourself to find strengths and weaknesses and then create a marketing strategy and plan to carry out your vision.

1,431 Comments

  1. Eugena Bienvenue
    Eugena Bienvenue on July 17, 2019 at 7:19 am

    Loan Money To You – You Will Be Able To Move Your Business Forward

    Kabbage is a top nationwide lender and convenient resource for business loans.

    Kabbage offer the flexibility to create small business loans with terms that meet your specific needs as a borrower.

    Kabbage’s high approval rates mean that Kabbage can say ‘yes’ when other lenders say no.

    There is no obligation to get started, and no need for collateral or a down payment.

    Receive a quick decision and get funding in as little as 10 minutes.

    Apply now: https://www.perfectmedialab.com/getloan

    Thank you,
    Eugena Bienvenue

    *Unsubscribe * : reply “no email”

    Reply
  2. 바카라사이트
    바카라사이트 on August 16, 2019 at 2:54 am

    And because one of the keys to getting more comments is to make it easy for your readers to comment, we need to do something to make this easier.
    You can do this by linking to your comment form at the end of your post, a good example of this in action is what Noah Kagan does on his blog;

    Reply
  3. 슬롯머신
    슬롯머신 on August 16, 2019 at 3:06 am

    In the screenshot above, Noah links to his comment form twice, when you click on one of these links you will immediately be taken to the comment form.
    When someone is given too many options, they will take the easiest option; no action.

    Reply
  4. 카지노사이트
    카지노사이트 on August 16, 2019 at 3:13 am

    If you aren’t getting many comments on your blog yet, avoid drawing attention to your comment counts.
    If you aren’t getting many comments (yet) or you are getting the wrong sort of people commenting on your blog, it’s worth taking a look at who you are really trying to reach.

    Reply
  5. 카지노사이트
    카지노사이트 on August 16, 2019 at 3:19 am

    I am trying to bump an old post on a selling page and have found it in my activity log but there doesn’t seem to be any way of commenting on it from there or jumping to my post on the selling page, it just takes me to the page at the top which is no help at all really
    you want to be on the leading edge of marketing trends and get the inside scoop on how industry experts are reacting to and implementing them.

    Reply
  6. 바카라사이트
    바카라사이트 on August 16, 2019 at 3:33 am

    he replies to nearly every one of them. Having written for his blog before, I also know he asks contributing writers to respond as well.
    That one blog post has 392 comments on it. Not painful, “great post” comments either. Mark’s ideas ignite debate, foster creativity and provide a fantastic exchange of ideas that are as valuable as the posts themselves. And even on an article with nearly four hundred comments,

    Reply
  7. 온라인카지노
    온라인카지노 on August 16, 2019 at 3:39 am

    Have you heard about the concept of “Content Shock”? You know that because of Mark’s post Content Shock: Why content marketing is not a sustainable strategy published in the beginning of 2014.
    Many marketers (including me) love him for his forward thinking, his approachability, his no-nonsense advice, and his entertaining podcast with cohost and voiceover genius Tom Webster.

    Reply
  23. Kreditkarte
    Kreditkarte on September 27, 2019 at 3:36 pm

    Bekommt man ohne rezept , Pille preis apotheke – Günstig kaufen deutschland : Kaufen mit rezept .

    Reply
  24. Kuur bestellen
    Kuur bestellen on September 28, 2019 at 12:18 am

    Apotheke rezeptfrei , Online bestellen paypal – Online per nachnahme : Generikum günstig kaufen .

    Reply
  25. Preise holland
    Preise holland on September 28, 2019 at 2:09 am

    Tabletten bei hörsturz , Kaufen per paypal – Kaufen ohne rezept in deutschland : Apotheke pille .

    Reply
  26. billig kopi uden
    billig kopi uden on September 28, 2019 at 9:38 am

    hvor får jeg online , tyskland online – sådan køber tabletter : sikker køb af uden .

    Reply
  28. koszt zamienniki
    koszt zamienniki on September 29, 2019 at 9:12 am

    odpowiedniki bez recepty online , krakГіw tanio – w polsce gdzie kupic : polska bez recepty gdaЕ„sk .

    Reply
  30. Prezzi generico in farmacia
    Prezzi generico in farmacia on September 29, 2019 at 12:33 pm

    Generico farmacia , Vendita in contrassegno – Acquisto generico italia : Prezzo con ricetta .

    Reply
  31. In italia prezzo
    In italia prezzo on September 29, 2019 at 2:07 pm

    Dove acquistare , Online pagamento contrassegno – Prezzo in farmacia : Generico precio .

    Reply
  33. hotel casino travemГјnde
    hotel casino travemГјnde on October 1, 2019 at 5:53 am

    diamond card holland casino , mobile casino – casino sollies pont : smartphone gГ©ant casino .

    Reply
  113. Paydayloan
    Paydayloan on October 8, 2019 at 3:59 pm

    cash advance online cash payday loans online payday loans no fax guaranteed acceptance payday loans https://datoxoxuwyfo.tk/ https://norixanyvo.tk/ payday loans in chicago easy payday installment loans in california https://uvajusesuc.tk/ loans no credit check advance payday loans payday one loans poor credit loans guaranteed approval https://ryfazipy.tk/ https://atyfulivuf.tk/ payday cash loans online online personal loans payday loan cash advance payday advance

    Reply
  286. Joanie Alcine
    Joanie Alcine on October 13, 2019 at 10:31 pm

    As a webmaster, do you feel so busy but empty and lonely?

    We are running a campaign only for webmasters.
    It provides an opportunity for you to release your emotions.

    Largest Affair Site In The World
    Over 30 Million Members
    Costs Nothing To Join
    ==https://www.thelocation3.com/hookup ==

    Regards,
    Joanie Alcine

    to unsubscribe, click
    Here: https://www.thelocation3.com/unsubscribe

    Reply
  449. https://www.letmejerk.com
    https://www.letmejerk.com on October 19, 2019 at 8:05 pm

    It’s a shame ｙou don’t have a donate button!
    I’ⅾ mօѕt cｅrtainly ddonate tⲟ thіs outstanding blog!
    I guess forr now i’ll settle fօr bookmarking and adding
    your RSS feed tߋ my Google account. I ⅼⲟοk forward to
    fresh updates аnd wіll alk abⲟut this website ѡith my Facebook ɡroup.
    Chat ѕoon!

    Reply
  543. Lisacew
    Lisacew on October 23, 2019 at 8:05 am

    p