To effectively market in today’s noisy marketing landscape, you need a way to stand out that is accurate, relevant, innovative, and enables you to rise above your competitors. We will create that clear marketing plan with KPIs.
With the hype of social media, influencers, and content marketing, it’s tempting to leap into tactical initiatives when formulating a marketing plan. But without an overarching strategy driven by your customers’ value journeys and your business needs, you’re missing the critical “why” behind the tactics.
It’s important to step back and follow some fundamental principles that help guide your strategy and identify which tactics will be implemented, including how they influence buyers at different stages of the customer value journey. And, of course, we tie everything together with KPIs and measurable results.
How do we finalize a marketing plan?
1) Analyze your company’s position in the market
We examine your company, competitors, and the business environment.
2) Outline your buyer
- What is your ideal customer struggling with?
- Who are they?
- Where do they get their information?
- What influences their decisions?
- Who influences their decisions?
- What can your product/service do that transforms their lives?
3) Set goals
We set specific, measurable, relevant, and time-bound goals.
An example would be to increase sales qualified leads by 15% in six months or to increase levels of engagement on a specific product page by the next quarter.
Goals are our compass – they give us a direction in which we direct our tactical planning.
4) Identify tactics to meet strategic goals
Some of the digital marketing tactics we employ:
- Branding – We choose a branding agency and lead the entire branding process to result in a fruitful brand book (including look, feel, tone, and voice)
- Website – We make sure it is “alive and kicking,” aligned with the strategy and the brand, and includes all important functions, including CTAs (Call To Actions) and new content on an ongoing basis
- Sales Tools – We develop a set of relevant tools such as presentations, case studies, movies, and videos
- Content – We manage all your content needs: blogs, tweets, collateral, website content, use cases, success stories, videos, and presentations
- Through Leadership – We search for and suggest speaking engagements, awards, and recognition, generate educational webinars, and work with research companies
- Database – We build a database of potential audiences and prospects organized by persona. All databases will be stored in a CRM system. We then communicate with these databases via emails, newsletters, blogs, and social media. We invite the database to activities and events we generate on an ongoing basis.
- Social Media & Community Management – We search for professional forums, blogs, and thought leaders, as well as manage participation in the various discussion groups relevant to your industry. We handle all social media activities on an ongoing basis. And of course, we report and measure KPIs for increased activity, including followers, likes, shares, and engagement.
- Activating SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- Digital Activation (we are a HubSpot Gold Partner)
- Marketing Automation – Drip Campaigns (From ML to MQL to SQL and Opportunity).
- Newsletters and email campaigns.
- Campaigns, ABM campaigns, webinars, gated content, tip sheets, eBooks, success stories, and landing pages.
- Conversion – We make sure that leads are converted into business opportunities by utilizing marketing automation tools and targeted messaging.
- Tradeshows, promotions, events, and webinars search, management, and support.
- PR and press coverage.
5) Establish measurements (KPIs)
Many times, companies execute a lot of activities without a clearly outlined framework of how to measure whether those activities are effective. KPIs are needed for periodic review and assessment of initiatives and can reveal opportunities to optimize an initiative. KPIs also provide a crucial point of accountability with senior stakeholders who need to have visibility on how marketing is performing.
6) Define the budget
It is vital to know your budget constraints so activities can be prioritized properly and we know which tactics to invest in first. Some tactics may be managed by SAGE as part of our marketing operations budget, while other tactics or initiatives may require external specialty resources. Some of the marketing budget will need to be allocated for out-of-pocket costs associated with media.