How to create an Effective Marketing Strategy for your Business Part 1
Wonder why Coca-cola, Pepsi, Dufil, and other big brands keep advertising their products, despite their level of success? Well, it is because it is not the best product/service that sells the most; it is the best-known product.
And that is a lesson for you to learn. As a growing business in Africa, you need to understand that if no one knows your brand, they would not patronize you, even if you are the best in your niche. Thus, you need to be intentional and strategic about marketing your business.
You can’t rely only on word of mouth from friends who want to see you grow or referrals from your family members.
You need to go beyond your immediate circle and target more people who need your product/service. And this is where creating a marketing strategy for your business comes in.
So, in this article, we would examine what a marketing strategy is and why you need one. And in our next post, we would share steps you can take to create an effective marketing strategy for your business.
Let’s get to it.
What is a Marketing Strategy?
A marketing strategy is a long-term plan targeted toward promoting your business to your target audience.
It includes plans on how to increase brand awareness, attract new leads, and convert them to lifelong customers. It is a long-term plan which intersects your business goals and your audience’s needs.
Your marketing strategy also helps you determine the tactics you would use to attract your ideal audience, where to target the audience, how to overthrow your competitor’s marketing to snatch their customers, etc.
Your marketing strategy should contain the following information in no particular order:
- Your business and marketing goals
- What differentiates you from your competitors
- Your target audience
- Target audience’s pain points
- How your product/service solves those pain points
- The marketing tactics you would use to attract this audience, etc.
Okay, take a deep breath. It is not as hard as it seems. With this guide, you would understand why it is important to create a marketing strategy for your business.
Why do you need a Marketing Strategy?
So, why do you need a marketing strategy? Why can’t you just wing it and do trial and error till you finally get it?
Here are some reasons you need a marketing strategy to succeed as a business owner in Africa.
Keeps your marketing efforts organized and consistent
According to CoSchedule’s Trend Report on Marketing Strategy for 2022, it is estimated that organized marketers are 674% more likely to report success than their peers. And with a marketing strategy, your marketing effort would be organized; leading you to maintain a consistent appearance on all marketing channels.
However, without a marketing strategy, you wouldn’t know the content to create at a specific time and for a specific marketing channel. Thus, slowing down your work and making you disorganized.
In all, it helps you to be more proactive than reactive to trends and changes.
Helps you understand and target your audience well
As a business owner, you need to target a specific group of people for your marketing efforts to succeed. Yes, you can’t aim to attract everyone, as that would equal attracting no one.
And with a marketing strategy, you can clearly define who your ideal audience is, their problems, and how you would present your product/service as the solution to those problems.
Helps you communicate your value to your audience
Asides from understanding and targeting your audience well, your marketing strategy also helps you to communicate well with your audience and show them the value of your product/service. With a marketing strategy, you can determine the content your audience loves, where they consume such content online, and how to market your business online to them.
For example, if your audience are millennials, which are people between the age of 27–42; your method of communicating with them would differ from when you are communicating with Gen Z, which are individuals between the age of 11- 26.
And having a marketing strategy helps you determine this beforehand.
Improves the chances of beating your competitors
Competitor analysis is a must if you want to succeed in the business world. You are not the only one saying you have the best product/service in your industry. Thus, to beat those competitors, you need to be strategic in your marketing efforts.
As a business owner, you need to understand how your competitor operates to defeat them in marketing. And you can do this by examining the content they produce, how they communicate with the target audience, etc. This gives you an insight into what works, thus increasing your chances of winning.
Helps you achieve your marketing and business goals
One of the most important things that must first be stated in your marketing strategy is the business and marketing goals you aim to achieve. When the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable. And having a marketing strategy helps you avoid that abuse.
Now, you may have goals such as increasing brand awareness, increasing sales, getting collaboration deals with significant brands, etc. But without a clear plan on how to achieve those goals, they would remain just that- goals.
However, with a marketing strategy, you are able to clearly state how to achieve these goals with a clear action plan.
Wrapping Up
Creating a marketing strategy for your business ensures that you take calculated steps and a strategic approach to putting the word out about your business.
Thus, it is key that you pay attention to this. And so, in our next post, we would give a step-by-step approach you can take to create a result-producing marketing strategy. You sure don’t want to miss it.
At Triift Africa, we are deeply interested in helping MSMEs and student entrepreneurs take their businesses from hustle to portfolio.
Want to speak with an expert on other pressing issues in your business, then send a mail to hello@triiftafrica.com or visit our website.
Think we convinced you and gave you enough reasons to pay good attention to marketing your business? Then hit the clap button as many times as possible.
