The first rule of marketing is that you need to put some thought into it and identify a market and a void that you want to fill.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen and you end up with a bunch of worthless advertising that just eats away at any good will you might have possibly had.
There are certain considerations that you need to make before you begin doing any kind of marketing or advertising and here are a few suggestions for questions to ask yourself before you get moving:
1. What is our value proposition:
What are the tangible and intangible value that you want to create for your prospects and clients?
2. Who will appreciate what we sell and will buy it?
It isn’t enough for someone to love the thing you create. Someone has to be willing to buy it as well.
3. How do we reach this market?
If you know the value and the market for what you are selling, it is logical that you will need to reach them at some point.
4. 3,2,1…Contact:
Are there easy ways to make direct contact with my biggest and best targets?
5. What is advertising’s role in this process?
Many people confuse marketing and advertising as the same thing.
They aren’t.
So you need to think about the role, if any, advertising and paid media are going to have on your marketing efforts.
6. How can we effectively use social media?
Just having a Facebook page or a Twitter account doesn’t mean you have a social media strategy. So you need to jump past just having a social media presence into having a strategy to attack social media.
7. What message am I trying to send?
Message matters and stories give your brand and sales process a great deal of power.
So what story is it you want to tell?
What message are you trying to deliver?
8. Is the things that we are putting out into the world going to help us have the conversations we need to have?
Will your marketing efforts actually lead to sales conversations or are they just vanity projects?
9. How will my marketing evolve as I move forward?
Your marketing should have a lifecycle and as you and your company change, so should your marketing.
10. How will we know we have been successful?
What measurements of success are you going to use?
Are they the right ones?