Here at WSI Online Marketing we know that Marketing is not a black art but like most business operations it is a process and should be treated as an integrated process and not as a set of one off unrelated activities. As marketers, we create the product, promote it, give it a price, and put it on the shelves. All the stages in the process are important and are dependent on each other.
To be a successful at marketing, there are 5 things we need to do. We can't miss any of these out or do them in the wrong order or we will fail. So just in case, here’s the list of my five tips to make sure we stay successful as marketers:
1. Goals
There should always be a reason for everything we do and those are our goals If you don’t have clear goals that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Reasonable and Timebound) then we are in deep trouble. Digital Marketing makes the setting of SMART goals easier. We recently wrote a digital marketing post on why it is easier to set SMART goals in the digital marketing space. It may be starting up a Twitter page, or setting a low price for a product but we must know the reason why you are making that decision. And that reason is your goal. It should always be the starting point of any plan or decision. Keep reminding yourself of it and make sure you are moving in the right direction.
2. Strategy
How are we going to achieve our goals? We need to be very specific. When you think that a Twitter page would help you build an online presence, hopefully you just don’t say, “I will just set up a Twitter page.” First and foremost, you must have a good reason to think that Twitter is the way to achieve your goals. Second, you should be thinking about the content you are going to put on Twitter to add value and engage with your Tweeps (your followers), the colours and images you would use to portray the right brand or image, etc. You go into the details, and think out of the box. Strategy also includes choosing the best medium to reach your consumers. Whether you are using traditional or digital marketing media, it is essential to integrate individual marketing efforts, and ensure consistency across all platforms through the process.
3. Tools
Marketers need the right tools to help them do their jobs. In our digital economy, our tools are getting more sophisticated and complicated so we really need to keep updating ourselves. We need to know what the latest tools can do for us and we need to understand them well to find out what is the best. And that includes all the digital marketing media and platforms. Recently at WSI, we have done several workshops for marketers, and were initially shocked by their lack of knowledge of the digital world. As marketers, we can’t afford to be worse than consumers at the tools. Also, it is important to see how we can creatively transform the use of these tools to attract and engage with clients, consumers and prospects.
4. People
Consumer behaviour is one of the most interesting and important parts of marketing. If we spend the time and get to know people, we can give them what they want. Don’t assume anything about your target audience. Market research is key before you start working on your strategy. Communication is so important, we need to communicate in the right way and at the right time.
5. And everything else
As marketing consultants or marketers, our days will be very varied. We can be promoting caravans one day, and beer the next. You can’t sell anything or persuade anyone if you know nothing about your product category or the people using it. You can’t just know about marketing, you need to know about cars, cosmetics, camping and everything else. So it is an opportunity for life long learning!
Here at WSI, we are a pure play marketing company that focusses on digital marketing to work with our clients to help them leverage the power of the internet to increase sales, reduce costs and make operational efficiencies in their business.
No comments:
Post a Comment