If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else
Denise Davies, founder of dsquared, shares her five key principles for an effective marketing strategy.
As an inquisitive 15-year-old, I remember being given a copy of an inspirational book by my Dad, which would have a profound effect on my career ambitions.
‘If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else’ was first written by psychologist and author David P. Campbell in 1974 and has undergone countless revisions since. No matter which version you flick through, the fundamental message of identifying and creating your opportunities for growth is unaltered – and the importance of setting goals to blaze your own trail to success has remained with me ever since.
Through the course of my career, I’ve applied the skills of planning, measuring, reevaluating and recalibrating not only to personal goals but also to successful B2B marketing strategies.
Here are a few of the guiding principles I’ve used along the way.
Know where you’re going
It is essential to step back from the day-to-day running of your business in order to remind yourself what it is you are trying to achieve – and then create a plan to realise that goal.
The Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategy and Tactics (VMOST) framework, as popularised by academic and business guru Rakesh Sondhi is a highly effective tool for formulating and testing your organisation’s overarching business strategy. VMOST analysis commences with an idea of where the company wants to be (its vision), and works through the mission, objectives, strategy and tactics required to make the vision a reality.
Do your research
As novel or exciting as your approach to marketing may be, it’s highly likely that you’re in a playing field of several competitors. Look at what your peers are doing – what seems to be going well for them? Which areas of the market seem under-served?
A SWOT analysis is a straightforward yet effective way of analysing your business’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Be very honest in assessing your business, and ensure that you stay in contact with your customer base to gain a proper understanding of the challenges they face.
Work out how you’re going to get there
Once you understand the overarching direction of the company, it is critical to align with the sales team on target territories and customer segments. Assessing how the company solves what keeps customers up at night will bring focus to the marketing strategy.
A grand corporate mission or vision is meaningless without the day-to-day plan to move it from the drawing board to reality. Break down your goals into manageable segments, and make them SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound).
Communicate, communicate, communicate
When building an effective marketing strategy, it’s essential to establish key messages for each customer segment and deliver them effectively using timely on and offline tactics – this forms the basis for your marketing communications plan. In addition, you must communicate consistently and often to successfully engage your audience.
One of my favourite quotes from Campbell’s book focuses on the importance of consistency in everything you do; not least in communication:
“A slow and steady stream of water will, in time, erode the hardest of rocks.”
Measure and evaluate
Setting an effective marketing strategy requires the input of many different areas across the business, and is an iterative process. It is important is to learn from successes and failures to ensure that you’re in the best possible position to achieve your goals.
Benchmark your performance and be patient. Again, consistency is key – success doesn’t happen overnight.
This constant cycle involves continual measurement and recalibration. Tomorrow’s triumph is enabled by the planning you do today.
These five principles are my guiding lights when laying out a marketing strategy. Feel free to get in touch with your pearls of wisdom and experience; I’d love to hear them…
Denise