6 Reasons Why Your Business Might Need a Marketing Strategist

If you’re looking to bring in a marketing strategist for your business, or if you’re just starting out on your own and need a strategy, then you need to compare your startup to what the market already offers, and you have to figure out how your niche can differentiate your brand from all the competition. Here are some major reasons why you might need one.

1. Are you in the Wrong Market

Maybe you’re an eCommerce business with a focus on clothing, but you have a strong technology background. Or maybe you’re a sole proprietor, so you don’t really have a network to lean on, but you do own a website and social media presence. Either way, you might want to think about tweaking your business model to fit the current marketplace. In addition to analyzing your business model, you might want to consider the prospects in the market. Do you have enough business to stand out from the crowd? You might want to figure out what the competition is offering, and create a marketing plan that targets the crowd that wants your product.

2. You Don’t Know Your Market

One of the biggest problems facing new businesses is that they don’t know the market that they’re entering. They might come up with a solid plan, but they’ll never find out if it’s perfect or not until they actually try it out. If you want to really succeed in the long run, you’re going to have to reach out to a network of other business owners and customers to find out what their needs are. When you do that, you’ll be able to tailor your marketing plan to those needs. If you have the chance to gain customer feedback, that’s even better!

3. You Have Too Many Ideas

One of the biggest issues that startups have is that they overthink everything. They have too many ideas that they can’t even begin to execute. This leads to a lot of dead ideas and a lot of time spent thinking that could have been spent running the business. The biggest obstacle standing in the way of most startups is that they are a bit too scared to launch and let go of their ideas. But to be successful, you’re going to need to let go of your dreams and ambitions. You’re going to have to be pragmatic about what you can and can’t accomplish. Your goal isn’t to be so big that you can’t fail, it’s to have a well-executed plan that’s taken care of before you launch and lets you focus on the business.

4. You’re Getting No Feedback

If you’re not getting any feedback from customers, there’s a good chance that you’re missing a lot of opportunities to market your business. Your competitors are giving customers a lot of advice, but what about you? If you’re not getting feedback from customers, you might be missing a lot of opportunities to market your business and gain real customers. If you don’t have real customers giving you feedback, you’ll be forced to rely on surveys and focus groups to find out what customers want. However, focus groups are often highly biased, and customers don’t always give you straight answers. You might be missing out on a lot of valuable insight that you can use in order to market your business.

5. You’re Not Using Current Technologies

The reality is that not a lot of business owners have a full understanding of the latest and greatest technology trends. Not only that, but those business owners that do have a good grasp of the latest technology can use that knowledge to build an even better business. If you’re not leveraging the tools that are currently available, you’ll find it much harder to gain an edge over your competitors. That doesn’t mean you should think about using webinars or web tools to learn about technology. Instead, do your research on tools like Google Ads or Facebook Ads to find out if they are a good fit for your business.

6. What’s The Solution?

When you do come across a startup that’s completely falling apart, it’s easy to feel hopeless about what the future holds. But for every startup that’s failing, there are hundreds of others that are successful and are helping other entrepreneurs build their businesses. So don’t let your own issues blind you from seeing other entrepreneurs in your industry succeed. There are thousands of other startups out there that you can learn from and learn from their mistakes. Take the time to learn from their successes and failures, and you’ll end up learning a great deal about how to run your own business! The tips above will give you insight on how to avoid some of the biggest issues that entrepreneurs often face. But if you’re looking to completely fix your business before you launch, check out some of the software tools that you can use to help you build your business. And remember, when you’re trying to build a business, you’re never going to be able to do it on your own. That’s where your network comes in. Make a brand difference.™

Why is a Digital Marketing Plan Important for your Business?

To understand how important digital marketing is for businesses, we need to look at consumer behavior –  A recent study by Oberlo reveals that more than 2.1 billion people around the world made purchases online in 2020.

Shoppers flocking online is a prime reason why businesses need to be investing in digital marketing to stay competitive. However, you don’t have to have an eCommerce business to need digital marketing strategies in 2021.

Everyone from small businesses to global companies need to be visible online. Being where and when your customers are searching for you can mean the difference between winning or losing the sale.

"Mediocre marketers think in terms of campaigns. Great marketers think in terms of growth frameworks."  – Neil Patel

Whether it’s a brand or product, customers are using the internet and smart devices all day, everyday to help them make purchasing decisions.

How to Write a Digital Marketing Plan

Step 1: Start with a SWOT Analysis

By SWOT analysis or SWOT matrix, we mean the process of identifying your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This is the first step in developing an effective digital marketing strategy.

Think of this step as the cornerstone for the entire plan. The SWOT is an important situational analysis that considers any internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats).

Step 2: Set your Goals & Objectives

While your goal may be to make more sales, to get there you may need to increase product or brand awareness amongst your target market, or increase purchasing intent. These objectives will guide the types of digital marketing you do. Think carefully about where you want to get to (goals) and what it is that you need to achieve or change to get there (objectives).

Step 3: Create your Buyer Persona

There’s no success in marketing without customers, so if you want your digital marketing plan to work, you should have a clear picture of who your customer is, what they like and how they behave. That’s why marketers recommend creating what’s called buyer personas.

Learn More: How to write a digital marketing plan in 6 steps

About the author, Melissa How founded Marketing Wise in 2010 to demystify digital marketing and support businesses in their digital transformation journeys.  She is also Founder and Director of The Cocktail Shop, Australia’s fastest growing cocktail eCommerce business.

Make a brand difference.™