Introduction
Whether you are short on time or finances, you may not be spending enough time marketing your brand. If this is the case, you may be losing out on significant potential for advancement. We’ve compiled a list of seven recommendations to help you develop a new marketing mix that will elevate your brand. Sales promotions, discounts, and incentives are vital components of your marketing mix, but why not consider marketing from a broader perspective?
Marketing is a way to enlighten potential customers, provide them with options, and add value. Finding a suitable marketing mix is the most effective method to attain those objectives. Here’s what your marketing strategy should do for you:
- Create awareness: Be visible in your local region so that online searches for your services attract potential consumers.
- Build understanding: With several businesses vying for the same market, it’s important to communicate your expertise and why customers should select you over competitors.
- Define your expertise: Show that you understand your business and how it fits into the requirements and expectations of your clients and community. Introduce your staff, highlight their skills, and explain how they are helping customers look and feel their best. This can assist potential customers in identifying with your company on a personal and emotional level.
- Offer great incentives: Introduce promotions to recruit and keep customers, and increase sales.
- Measure your results: To adapt your marketing mix, you must know what works and what doesn’t, so you can build on your achievements and learn from failures.
Structure your plan
There are plenty of ways you can build and execute a marketing mix, so try to keep it simple and manageable. Your marketing strategy should follow a few SMART objectives viz. they should be:
Specific (S):
Choose a clear objective and then focus on it. One goal may be to enhance client loyalty; if this is the case, consider following up with your clients after each meeting to thank them and get feedback. You may give assistance, resolve any concerns, and motivate them to return soon.
Alternatively, if you want to launch a seasonal campaign or offer a gift, advertise them in advance. If available, use email marketing and SMS to assist you in implementing and evaluating these campaigns.
Another explicit goal may be to recoup 50% of clients who have not returned. You may monitor this using your reporting tools, and then contact previous clients to urge them to return.
Measurable (M):
Wherever feasible, track your progress and incorporate what you’ve learned from your achievements and setbacks.
For a print advertisement, it may be circulation, if readership is not available. To determine effectiveness in digital and social media activities, consider your campaign’s target reach first, followed by actual reach. Measure the outcomes of your marketing emails and SMS, as well as your Google Analytics and social media data, to discover which programs were most effective, and repeat the successes.
Achievable (A):
Create attainable marketing activities. For example, blogs may be part of your strategy but don’t commit to 10 articles each week if you don’t have the time or the resources to do so. Set social media objectives based on your content mix and the amount of posts and stories you can realistically keep up with. Always create a plan that you are confident you can stick to.
Relevant (R):
When designing your brand marketing plan, ensure activities and campaigns align with your beliefs and long-term goals. So, if you aim to become the top brand in your industry, base your marketing plan on that and ensure that all actions complement it.
Time-based (T):
Effective marketing requires careful timing to maximize results. Setting launch dates, prioritizing work, and allocating responsibilities are all important parts of this process. For example, if you’re doing a Valentine’s Day campaign, be sure to debut it at the correct time to increase awareness, excitement, and sales, ideally a few weeks ahead.
Implement your marketing plan.
When you’ve decided on a plan, accept or delegate responsibility for ensuring that it’s efficiently implemented and managed. Most marketing strategies will span certain platforms, such as your website, social media, and PR, and they should all be integrated. Make sure to promote your initiatives on as many channels as possible to maximize their reach and ROI. This might involve in-shop marketing and point-of-sale, as well as more traditional marketing methods such as advertising.
Evaluate the effects and outcomes.
After you’ve started a campaign, assess and evaluate it. For instance, consider metrics like as reach, open rates, click-through rates, and sales for an online campaign. It is critical to learn from all your efforts – build on your successes and prune what did not work.
Evolve and adapt to keep your marketing new and fresh!
Some aspects of your marketing strategy will always be consistent, such as seasonal and event-based advertising. But don’t settle for the same thing year after year. It’s critical to check outside your company to see what the new trends are, ask clients if they’re seeking something you don’t already offer, and regularly refresh your marketing calendar. Involving your team is an excellent approach to generating ideas based on conversations with clients, friends, and coworkers.
Don’t ignore the obvious in quest of something unique.
You can spend hours brainstorming innovative marketing ideas but don’t neglect the obvious, especially if you can incorporate simple ideas and automate marketing activities. Text messaging, email appointment reminders, follow-up thank you notes, and blast marketing tools are all at your disposal.
Run a campaign for clients who have tried you but have not repeated it. Set up an internet store to introduce customers to your other services. Invite customers who have never used your services. If you release a new product or service, make sure to include its introduction in your marketing plan.
Maximize your website’s social media and internet potential.
Your website presents your image, tells your narrative, establishes your competence, and exposes your brand, services, and team. Create a website that piques clients’ interest and motivates them to spread the word about your business. Add a blog to demonstrate your experience and understanding of the new trends. Ensure call-to-action buttons are present in all your marketing communications, and promote your most recent deals and campaigns.
Also, use social media efficiently. Time your content and stories to align with your marketing strategy, and include active connections to your website to fill your calendar. For instance, on Instagram, which does not allow active links in your content, utilize a free resource like https://linktr.ee as your bio link so that people may visit your website as well as the ‘link’ function in your stories.
Finally, creating a Google Business Profile and gathering reviews guarantees that you appear in local searches and move up the ranks.
No matter how you approach developing your brand marketing mix, make sure it is consistent with who you are as a brand and as a business. This ensures that you are constantly confident in your messaging and that your clients understand who you are and why they should buy from you.