How To Develop A Marketing Strategy That Cannot Fail

You probably already know all about how important it is to have a great marketing plan for your business. But, do you know what it takes to create a really great marketing plan? You need to sit down and really do your homework. Figure out what is going to work for your business, and how to best implement your marketing strategy. Here some tips you can use for a general marketing strategy with methods that are tried, tested and true for businesses of all types and sizes:

Think about what you are offering: Your marketing strategy is obviously going to be based around whatever it is that you are trying to sell. The first thing you need to do is a little bit of market research. Find out if your product or service is one that people are going to need and use. Figure out what it is that people need, then decide if what you are offering is going to fill that need. Then, figure out the best ways to go about marketing your product or service to this market of people. Without this valuable information, you won't be able to create a really great marketing strategy. Some of the things that you will want to consider during your research include:

Who are your customers?
What do your customers need?
How can you provide them with what they need?
Where can you find your customers (eg where do they hang out) and who do they hang out with that may also be potential customers?

When you answer these questions, do it in list form. Make detailed lists about how you can provide your prospective customers with what they need, which is going to be the foundation for your Unique Selling Proposition (USP).

Be flexible for the best results: You should never be too rigid in your marketing strategy. You never know when you will need to make changes that will bring about more profits, and your marketing must change with you. Never be afraid to try new techniques, because you never know when something that you might never have given a second thought to may actually be the thing that works for your business. Keep on using traditional marketing methods, but also move into the Internet, guerrilla marketing, and any other methods you can use to promote your business.

Learn to measure the effectiveness of your marketing: Unless you know how to go about this, you will never really know just how effective your marketing really is. Also known as metrics, measuring is a way to tell if you are spending your marketing dollars in the right places. For instance, if you are spending a lot of money on newspaper advertising, you need to find out how many customers you are getting due to that advertising. You can do this a few different ways. You may want to create an email address or telephone number for people to contact, and you can track them that way. If you are advertising online, there are all kinds of great metrics tools available at your disposal. Learn how to measure the effectiveness of your marketing, and you will not be spending money on marketing that isn't working for you.

Analyze the results of your marketing: Once you have been marketing for a little while, you need to sit down and take a good hard look at what is working, and what is not. If you are using content marketing, figure out which copy people are responding to. Figure out which medium is working best, and then use the best mediums for your marketing. But, never close any doors either. What may not be working for you today may be just the thing you need tomorrow, so always keep your options open.