Developing Your Marketing Strategy (101)

We all know how important strategy is in marketing. But in reality, are we actually considering a strategy, or just scatter-gunning to see what sticks?

That’s one of the big-life questions I posed to Jess Osborn, marketing and business coach extraordinaire, when I spoke to her this week about…you guessed it, marketing strategy. 

Jess shared 3 amazing tips for anyone who is developing or revisiting their marketing strategy, so here I am sharing them with you, right here.  

Tip 1: Get specific about your target (yes, I know you’ve heard this one before)

But no matter how many times marketers tell you to hone in on your audience, the vast majority of businesses are too nervous to be really specific. Why? Because they want to keep their options open. 

I’m going to let the great Kevin Kelly tell you why you should narrow it down. 

According to Jess, trying to appeal to everyone creates ambiguity, generalism, and prevents people in your audience from becoming leads. When you're clear, they're clear. 

Tip 2. Have a leading offer

This is all about being strategic with what you’re selling and how you're selling it. Jess says smarter business models have aligned services to create a clear customer journey, to reduce marketing and sales efforts, increase CLV and profit. 

This ties back to something I talk about a lot when I’m writing homepage copy - have an ‘entry’ offer. This is either your primary offering or the service that your narrowed target audience most wants. There’s a time and a place to start introducing all the other things you can do, and the homepage isn’t it. 

Tip 3. One customer, one offer, one CTA - the basis for a good campaign

Definitely saved the best til last here. Once you have your specific audience and leading offer, it’s time to get down to marketing tactics.

According to Jess, even if it's just a social media post, have in mind, there’s ONE person, and there's ONE offer you want to drive them towards with a nice clear CTA. 

I wholeheartedly agree, this is what I call the ‘Rule of 1’ and, it’s my ‘desert island’ piece of marketing advice. 

So, let’s go back to the original pondering, are you really thinking strategically about your marketing? 

You can find out more about Jess Osborn here and see the video of our chat here.