You can’t build a house without a blueprint.
Well, you can, but it may not turn out as you'd hoped.
In their book, "Inside Secrets to Venture Capital", authors Power and Hill completed a study to help entrepreneurs. 28% of the venture capitalists surveyed stated that the most frequent business plan mistake was a "Lack of Marketing Strategy.”
“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” – Sun Tzu, military strategist and author of The Art of War,
It’s quite easy to fall in love with your own product but that won’t bring in sales. The old fashion “build it and they will come” approach doesn't work. Knowing your customer is crucial to getting them to buy your product over someone else’s. So, what is it that your customer wants to hear from you? How will you get their attention and persuade them to buy? You need to know your strategy before you act.
Without a marketing strategy, the people in your organization may not act in alignment with the common goal. Actions taken by the sales department may not complement those completed by the marketing department. Without a strategy, there is nothing to follow. This can lead to confusion and a slowed path to growth.
Your strategy needs to answer the following 4 questions:
- WHAT are you about?
- WHO would care?
- WHY will they buy?
- HOW will you reach them?
The order is important. If you skip a step, you won’t get to where you need to go. Start with WHAT and end with HOW. You’d be surprised at how many people ask me what media to buy but haven’t thought of what to say to the customer.
If you’re not growing as quickly as you’d like, it may be time to sit down and draft a marketing blueprint.
Do you have a plan?
Morty Silber, CEO
Mad Strategies Inc.
a Wizard of Ads Partner