1. Plan Your Mission, Goals and Objectives
Before doing anything else, your marketing leaders and stakeholders must sit down and define your business’s mission, and the goals and objectives that will propel your strategic marketing.
If your company already has an established mission statement, congrats! You’re ahead of the game.
A mission statement should explain why your organization exists, why it does business and how it supports and benefits its customers. Some mission statements are aspirational and motivating; some are more formal in their approach.
Ensure your mission statement matches the intent and culture of your company.
Next, you should map out the goals and objectives that will drive your marketing efforts. Remember, be SMART about it: That is to say, your goals should be:
- Specific.
- Measureable.
- Aspirational.
- Realistic.
- Time-bound.
The digital marketing landscape changes daily, so you should expect your tactics to evolve regularly. But your underlying goals and core mission should be more evergreen. Marketing processes need to be rigid enough to work well over time but flexible enough to adapt to quick pivots as needed.
2. Analyze Industry Positioning
With your mission statement, goals and objectives mapped out, it’s time to turn an eye outward to see where your company lies in terms of the overall industry, as well as how it’s positioned with current customers.
This step includes two essential strategies: SWOT analysis and positioning research.
SWOT stands for:
- Strengths, or the things your company does well in comparison to its competitors.
- Weaknesses, or the factors that may hold your organization back from market success.
- Opportunities, including the external elements like trends that could create the potential for new business or revenue streams.
- Threats, or the external factors (economical, political, technological, etc.) that might create obstacles for your company.
Where SWOT focuses on internal factors and external market elements, positioning seeks to better define the ways in which the brand is perceived in comparison to its competitors through the lens of the customer.
As Brafton’s own Dominick Sorrentino explained, brand positioning focuses on creating a compelling brand identity that establishes a memorable impression for customers in your target demographics.
A high-end car dealership that wants to position itself as a seller of luxury vehicles, for example, will look to use certain words and imagery in its marketing to craft a specific value proposition for its target audience.
It’s important to consider how your current and potential customers perceive your company, and if there are any changes you should make to create your ideal brand image. Where you fit in the marketplace should influence tactical decisions, from why a certain keyword is included in your inbound marketing strategy to which buyer personas you intend to target.