What’s your strategy?

A good marketing strategy is like a road map; a clearly defined and carefully considered path leading you towards your ultimate business goal

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”
Sun Tsu, Ancient Chinese Military Strategist

​When was the last time you reviewed your marketing strategy? Do you even have one? A good marketing strategy is like a road map; a clearly defined and carefully considered path leading you towards your ultimate business goal, whatever that might happen to be.
​From your overarching branding and proposition development to truly understanding your market, competitors and customers, it’s one of the most essential pieces of successful business planning. Yet it’s also one of the most overlooked. The reason why is clear enough, of course. When you’re so entwined in the everyday running of your business and managing the inevitable spot fires, it can be hugely difficult to see the way forward. In fact, when things get busy it can sometimes be a struggle to even see the way to next working day!But see it you must. Doing so requires taking a step back from your day-to-day operations. Or, perhaps more realistically, finding someone else who can do it on your behalf. More often than not engaging a third party can actually drive superior marketing outcomes, as it ensures greater impartiality, less emotional attachment and a far wider experience base drawn from many different businesses, brands and industries over many years.

Specialist skills to drive your business forward.

​Just as you engage a lawyer for legal matters and an accountant for financial guidance, independent marketing and strategy expertise can be critical to the success of your business. A strong and clear strategic direction can help to establish your brand, acquire customers, drive sales and build the team required to enjoy sustained future success. Trouble is, due to financial constraints many small to medium sized business owners opt to lead the marketing and strategy functions themselves which – in addition to stretching their already scarce time resources to breaking point – can hinder and even damage the success of their marketing initiatives. The challenges are magnified even further if marketing isn’t your core area of expertise in the first place, a common problem for many business leaders.

So what are your alternatives?

Obviously if your budget allows it’s worth seriously considering employing a full-time Marketing Manager who is always on-hand to lead your marketing strategy and the implementation of your programs. Another increasingly popular option is to engage a part-time Marketing Director to bring high-end strategic expertise in-house at a lower (pro rata) cost base.Of course, if you don’t require constant marketing and strategy support the best option may well be to outsource your needs to a marketing and strategy partner as and when required during the year. The advantages of this approach are three-fold. Firstly, you only pay for what you actually need, when you need it. Secondly an external strategy partner could provide you with access to a breadth of marketing professionals and their collective experiences, rather than just one individual. Finally, working with a nimble strategy partner can also provide access to the backend support you need to turn your strategy outcomes into a reality without the need to engage additional suppliers, partners or large (and, yes, often expensive) advertising/marketing agencies.

In short, it’s a simpler and smarter way to execute the marketing strategies and programs you need to flourish as a business. If you’re keen to discuss your marketing and strategy needs, we’d be happy to learn more about your business over a coffee by emailing us here.

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