Services
TAYA

They Ask, You Answer Mastery

A coaching & training program that drives unmatched sales & marketing results.

Sales

Sales Performance Mastery

Improve the competencies and close rates of your sales organization.

Web design

Website Mastery

Web design, development & training for your team.

HubSpot

HubSpot Mastery

Everything you need to get the most from HubSpot.

AI Mastery

AI Enablement Mastery

Unlock the power of AI in all aspects of your revenue operations.

Discover how IMPACT’s services can help take your business to the next level. Book a free 30-minute coaching session Book a free 30-minute coaching session
Learning Center
Learning Center

Learning Center

Free resources to help you improve the way you market, sell and grow your business.

Discover how IMPACT’s services can help take your business to the next level. Book a free 30-minute coaching session Book a free 30-minute coaching session

Free Assessment: How does your sales & marketing measure up?

Get Started
Close

Free Assessment:

How does your sales & marketing measure up?
Take this free, 5-minute assessment and learn what you can start doing today to boost traffic, leads, and sales.
Get Started
Carly Stec

By Carly Stec

Feb 21, 2014

Topics:

Inbound Marketing
Inbound Marketing

Approach Your Next Strategy With These 3 Things in Mind

Carly Stec

By Carly Stec

Feb 21, 2014

Approach Your Next Strategy With These 3 Things in Mind

Approach_Your_Next_Strategy_With_These_3_Things_in_MindWhile the road map to success is going to vary from business to business, each of our strategies should come from the same home.

No matter if you sell handbags to women, software to marketers, or sandwiches to the general public, everyone has to start somewhere.

Unless you've got time and money to waste, you're not going anywhere fast without putting a marketing strategy in place for your business.

When functioning the way it's supposed to, a marketing strategy will help your business come about the most efficient ways to reach your ideal customers and generate a healthy brand awareness. Without one, well, we hope you enjoy walking in circles.

So if your brand needs help getting started, we've come up with 3 things to keep fresh in your mind when approaching your marketing strategy.

Think Strategically, Not Tactically

While tactical thinking has its time and place, developing a strategy requires focused, strategic thinking.

What's the difference?

Strategic thinking and planning focuses on a broader course of action that is centered around your businesses overall mission or resolution. Strategic thinking is geared towards the development of identifying approaches that will lay the foundation for success rather than detailing the specific steps that need to be taken. 

Tactical thinking is about the specific steps. It's much less about a frame of mind or way of thinking, and more about small scale actions.

Simply put, while strategy functions as the "what", tactics function as the "how" in the equation. Strategies define your goals, where tactics work to define the actions that you will employ to reach those goals.

So before you jump the gun, start thinking about what you are trying to accomplish before you get carried away with how you are going to accomplish it.

Make Sure Your Goals Are Measurable 

Steer away from goals that aren't measurable, because when it comes down to it, you cant regulate something that you can't measure. 

Think about it this way, if there isn't a way to measure the results, how will your team know if they are making progress or moving things along in the right direction. How will they know when the goal has been met?

How do you know if your goal is measurable or not? Create them with questions like "how many?" or "how much?" in mind. Essentially you want to be sure that any indicators of success are quantifiable. 

While an unmeasurable goal would sound something like "our business wants to gain market awareness", a measurable goal would sound something more like "our business will double last month's traffic"

See the difference?

While market awareness would be tough to put a number on, your business would be able to easily indicate the success of the second goal by comparing the traffic from last month to the traffic at the end of the current month. 

Make Well-Defined Targets A Priority

It isn't until you define your personas that you can then begin to develop a strategy that aligns with their specific challenges. 

Don't just throw your line our their and wait for someone to bite, but rather do your research first. Find out where your ideal customers are hanging out and drop your line there. Well-defined targets help you narrow your focus and put forth a more concentrated message that lends itself to that specific group.

While information like age, gender, and demographics are certainly an essential part of persona development process, working toward uncovering information about their consumption behaviors will help to bring your efforts full-circle. A vague, generalized marketing strategy won't resonate, which is why businesses need to start diving below the surface when it comes time to define their audience.

By focusing on more detail-oriented questions like "where do they get their information?", "who or what influences their purchasing decisions?", or "what type of media do they consume?" businesses will find it is easier to inform your strategy. 

Essentially a better understanding of your customers translates into a competitive advantage. 

If you ask me, that sounds like a good place to start.

photo credit: Amanda M Hatfield via photopin cc

Free Assessment:

How does your sales & marketing measure up?
Take this free, 5-minute assessment and learn what you can start doing today to boost traffic, leads, and sales.

Related Articles

Your Website in 2024: The Future of Trends, Tech, and Traffic

November 1, 2023
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

How to Humanize Your Content While Using AI

September 11, 2023
Mandy York Mandy York

What is the Inbound Marketing Funnel? (+ Examples)

July 27, 2023
Anj Bourgeois Anj Bourgeois

Inbound Marketing vs. Content Marketing: What's the Difference? 

July 3, 2023
Brian Casey Brian Casey

Word-of-Mouth is Fragile; Here's How to Build Market Durability

May 10, 2023
Marcus Sheridan Marcus Sheridan

9 Best Customer Feedback Tools for Businesses of Every Size

March 27, 2023
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

How to Ghostwrite Content for a Subject Matter Expert

March 20, 2023
John Becker John Becker

What Happens When You Don't Have Buy-in for Your Inbound Strategy?

March 9, 2023
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

How To Set Content Marketing Goals for Growth

December 29, 2022
Brian Casey Brian Casey

Inbound Marketing for Logistics Companies (Transportation and Warehousing)

December 8, 2022
John Becker John Becker

How Much Does Inbound Marketing Cost in 2023?

November 28, 2022
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

How To Grow Your Email List: 13 Savvy Tips To Try in 2023

November 22, 2022
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

Content Marketing in 2024: Principles, Platforms, and Content Distribution

November 8, 2022
Marcus Sheridan Marcus Sheridan

7 Inbound Marketing Strategy Mistakes that Will Cost You in 2024

October 19, 2022
Kevin Phillips Kevin Phillips

Inbound Marketing for Construction Companies

June 11, 2022
Kimberly Marshall Kimberly Marshall

What is the Inbound Marketing Methodology?

June 8, 2022
Allison Melnik Allison Melnik

Inbound Marketing for Staffing Agencies

May 28, 2022
Kimberly Marshall Kimberly Marshall

Green Energy Inbound Marketing Strategy: The DIY Approach to Getting More Customers

May 7, 2022
John Becker John Becker

IMPACT+ for Business vs. the They Ask, You Answer Mastery Program

April 15, 2022
Kimberly Marshall Kimberly Marshall

Inbound Marketing for Franchises: Attracting Your Audience

March 25, 2022
Carolyn Edgecomb Carolyn Edgecomb

3 Surefire Signs Your Content Is Hitting the Wrong Audience

March 18, 2022
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

Inbound Marketing for Higher Education

March 11, 2022
Kimberly Marshall Kimberly Marshall

Starting a Business Blog? Features and Best Practices for Success in 2022

March 10, 2022
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

11 Books Every Black Sales and Marketing Professional Should Read in 2022

March 5, 2022
Hannah Woods Hannah Woods

Commercial Real Estate Inbound Marketing Strategy: The Simple Way to Get More Customers

March 4, 2022
John Becker John Becker