Questions to Ask Yourself for Marketing and Advertising Your Brand:
Marketing and advertising as a business can seem incredibly overwhelming. There are so many methods and so much information out there, that the landscape of advertising companies can seem daunting. We are all about streamlining at Thrill Seekers and minimizing stress. Before spending money on marketing, here are key questions to get clear on in order to not waste your marketing dollars in areas that aren’t necessary.
Who are you? What is your mission statement and what should people know about you?
This is a step that sounds intuitive, but you would be surprised at how many companies are started without a clear mission statement or vision of what truly differentiates the company from its competitors. The clarity in your core competencies and competitive advantages, what truly differentiates you are key to any success in the marketplace. This might be one of the most important things to get clarity on before moving forward with any sort of marketing strategy or advertising campaign. To break it down further:
Business/Situation Overview- What is the background of the business/product? What are current business conditions?
Products and/or Services- What specific product and/or services are you focused on?
Competitive Differentiation- What is the one thing that makes your company/product/brand stand out and unique from its competition?
Next up, get clear on your current goals for marketing and advertising. What are you currently doing? What is working and what is not working from an ROI standpoint and audience reach?
What do you need to accomplish with your marketing and advertising?
Even if you haven’t done any large-scale marketing, getting clear on what you want/need to accomplish with your marketing is key to any successful campaign. Research case studies of other organizations, put together what has worked or not worked for similar campaigns/companies. Get inspired by great campaigns and brainstorm what that would look like for your company. Number one put together your goals or what you want to achieve with your marketing plan. This will also help with your next question.
Who is your target consumer? This is so important to have clarity on.
Here is a brainstorming exercise that you can do to collect data on your target consumer- Describe their lifestyle, behaviors, insights? What motivates them? What are the 5 key benefits your target customer is seeking when they patronize your business? What is the biggest misconception people have about buying your product?
I could go on and on with questions for this section. Companies are often confused about their target consumer, it can be a very confusing thing to quantify. But taking the time now to ‘target’ your audience in order to create marketing messages that will reach them, can be the difference between success and failure. Wide nets don’t always catch more fish. Some other questions to ponder: What do they believe/what’s their perception of your product before we tell them anything? Why do (or don’t) they buy your product? What are the key benefits that they seek from you? What are the most important things people should know about buying your product? What should be avoided in talking to this audience? Once clear on your target consumer, you can market your message to reach them in an efficient and effective way.
Now we get to your message, the core that we need to incorporate into any campaign. What are you saying?
What is your message? What are you trying to achieve with your marketing?
Messaging is everything. Take time to get crystal clear on what your message is. Creativity flourishes once you know your objective and what you want to say. Brainstorm what branding, creative content, positioning, and taglines are important to your company. This can be fun! Remember to play with this and be open to creative ideas that may come up.
Some other questions to think about if relevant to your business market: Would it be more advantageous to grow the size of the market or to steal the share from competitors? What are your two strongest sales events and why do you feel they are so successful? How do your local objectives differ from national strategies (for your company or your industry)?
And lastly, the return on investment (ROI). Arguably the most important part of marketing your business, and ensuring your company can thrive.
How do you measure ROI? How will you know that your marketing efforts are successful?
Knowing whether or not a marketing campaign is successful is sometimes something that isn’t determined beforehand. I find it extremely important to be clear on what success looks like for your business in order to judge any marketing efforts made. Do you know how your business measures ROI? Sometimes a successful campaign is just brand awareness, at times the ROI is more actionable as in the consumer actually purchasing the product. Getting clear on how your campaign will be measured will provide tangible data to act on, and create peace of mind. Branding is an integral part of investing in your business’s future success, knowing how to measure ROI for marketing endeavors is a part of that.
Hope this is helpful. If you have any questions or would like to set up a branding session please feel free to reach out. I love hearing from you! Wishing you success in all future endeavors!
