Marketing Strategy

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Contents So what is a Marketing Strategy exactly? ......................................... 3 Who should have a Marketing Strategy? .......................................... 4 Why Use An External Consultant? ....................................................... 5 The Benefits of Working with Zein Marketing ..................................... 6

zein marketing t: 01233 330184|e:[email protected]|www.zeinmarketing.co.uk 

So what is a Marketing Strategy exactly? Well, when you first set up your business it was because you had an idea that addressed a need which wasn’t currently being met, a gap in the market if you like. So either consciously or subconsciously you had determined a market need (research) and were able to provide or source a product/service to meet that need (development) and now you have in mind the gaols for the business. This is where the marketing strategy comes in, it is basically setting out what you need to do to achieve your goals. The first thing to keep in mind is that your goals should be realistic, measurable, and achievable. Your overall business and marketing strategy go hand in hand so whatever the period of your business strategy (usually 3 or 5 years) is the same for your marketing strategy. A strategy basically is designed to answer three simple questions, where are we now, where do we want to be, and how are we going to get there. It’s not unusual for a marketing strategy to be confused with a marketing plan but they are quite different. In simple terms the strategy sets out your marketing goals while the marketing plan is how you’re going to achieve them, or to put it another way the strategy is the thought and the plan details the actions. A marketing plan normally runs for the annual financial accounting period of the business while the strategy runs for longer. That being said both should be reviewed regularly as we are all keenly aware that markets and economies are not as stable as they once were. A not uncommon occurrence is trying to carry out actions without really understanding the goal, or in other words a plan without a strategy. This is likely to end up wasting money and tying up resources that could be better deployed elsewhere. So here’s a simple method to remind you and adopt: Marketing Strategy ---> Marketing Plan ---> Implementation = Success Your marketing strategy should consists of: The "what" has to be done. Inform the market about the product or service you offer. Inform the market why its different. Your marketing plan consists of:   The "how" you do it.

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Who should have a Marketing Strategy? The simple answer is every business should. There’s a popular misconception that a marketing strategy is something that only large corporate businesses either have or need to do. Most small businesses are put off by what they perceive to be the size of the task and the potential drain on resources to accomplish it. Once again it is a myth that a strategy document needs to be huge tome, obviously the larger and more complex the organisation the larger the document can be, but it is not always so. It needs to set out some basics such as: A General overview of your business (Need only be one page) An honest appraisal of your current situation (This is the “Where are we now”): •

The Overall Market

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Who Your Competitors Are and their Strengths & Weakness’

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The Opportunities Open To You and The Threats You Face

The Overall Business Goals with Revenue Targets: (This is the “Where do we want to be”) The marketing strategy should then set out how you are going optimise your market opportunities, mitigate the threats, and challenge your competitors. It should also set out your goals and the means by which you measure your success of the given period. This is the “How we’re going to get there’) From this work a marketing plan can be drawn up detailing all the tactical actions you are going to take to achieve your strategic goals, things like; campaigns, promotions, exhibitions..etc. This is then completed with a budget with a timeline, and you should also tie this to your sales forecasting and measure the two to make sure your marketing is a) Working, and b) Which activities are being the most successful in terms of sales revenue generation as well as profitability. A common mistake that is made is to blindly follow a plan put in place for market and economic conditions that simply no longer exist, so It’s a good idea to revisit your business and marketing strategy on a regular basis. Remember to make the necessary adjustments to your marketing plan and if necessary to your budget.

zein marketing t: 01233 330184|e:[email protected]|www.zeinmarketing.co.uk 

Why Use An External Consultant? Well there are a number or reasons you should use an external consultant, such as: 1. You spend every working hour thinking about your business and will hold very personal views about where it should be heading and how it should get there. A consultant can give you a purely objective view. Just by the nature of todays pressure cooker business environment business owners and managers can be too engrossed to be able to have the time to look past the current months targets. This neatly leads on to the next reason. 2. Time. You probably don’t have the time to devote to the process, you know it makes sense but it is going to take time, money and resources to complete the task. Now, engaging a consultant does not mean you don’t have to devote any time to it, what it does mean is that the time that you do will be controlled and focussed without distractions. 3. The saying that there is ‘no substitute for experience’ really is true. A consultant who knows the process, has the right tools and most of all understands the pressures you are under because they have been there themselves, running their own businesses, companies, or departments. They can call upon a wealth of knowledge and expertise to ensure the process runs smoothly and in Zein’s case can work it right the way through to implementation, offering support and project management for all aspects of your marketing delivery. 4. If it saves you time then it also saves you money, but that’s not the only way it will save you money. When we talked about ‘What is a marketing strategy’ we mentioned that its not uncommon for a plan to be in place without a strategy “the cart before the horse” so to speak. What we also said is that this can, and invariably does result in wasted money and poorly deployed resources. So having an external consultant not only allows you the time concentrate on getting on and running your business, but will also identify those marketing activities that are costing you both in time and people. So to recap: 1. You will get a completely unbiased objective view 2. It will save you time 3. You will have a wealth of knowledge and experience to call upon 4. Ultimately it will save you money

zein marketing t: 01233 330184|e:[email protected]|www.zeinmarketing.co.uk 

The Benefits of Working with Zein Marketing

First and foremost, our philosophy is simple – it's all about you The key benefit of working with Zein is that you have all the marketing experience and support you need without the financial commitment of full-time staff or long expensive contracts. We offer a flexible approach to your marketing requirements where we can project manage all your campaigns as if we were your own "in-house" marketing department or act as part of your team when you need us, it's up to you!  The one-stop-shop for all your marketing needs you will always get the personal touch with Zein Marketing.  Although a small team there is a wealth of experience covering all aspects of marketing across a wide variety of media.  Our knowledge extends across strategic planning, PR, marketing project coordination and event planning both B2B and B2C which enables us to have an instant understanding of both the commercial and marketing challenges and confront them head on.  A local company whose philosophy is to help other local businesses grow through the introduction of well structured campaigns delivered from a sound strategic base.  We have developed close working relationships with some hugely talented people who can deliver creative design, web design and development, printer services and a host of other related skills, so believe we are well positioned to provide the most flexible and cost effective solution to whatever needs and demands our clients require.  With far too many years experience to mention in sales and marketing at all levels means that you have a wealth of experience to call upon.  Our hard earned reputation is based upon surpassing expectations, honesty, directness and actually doing the tasks themselves, supported by a dedication to getting the job done means you will always receive our full attention.  Delivering a cost effective approach to marketing means that Zein Marketing is always able to design a solution to meet the needs of your business.

zein marketing t: 01233 330184|e:[email protected]|www.zeinmarketing.co.uk