5 Marketing Essentials

Having a clear, compelling brand position is absolutely critical. Even if you are selling what may be considered a “commodity” product or service, there is something unique that only your brand can deliver. You need to let your target audience know what differentiates you from your competitors and why they should consider your product or service. Your brand position should be focused on customer benefits. This is your value proposition.   

Your Brand Platform is the one, single document that summaries all of your unique business attributes, aspirations, and positioning from a marketing perspective. This document is the cornerstone for all of your marketing decisions. The Brand Platform includes:

· Vision

· Mission

· Brand Story

· Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

· Tagline

The Marketing Plan is a formalized document that defines the specific business goals to be achieved, the strategies employed to achieve the business goals, and the tactics used to execute the strategies. The Marketing Plan is specific and actionable, and holds team members accountable for delivering successful outcomes.  

The Communication Plan is a formalized document that defines the specific communication elements, mediums and tactics chosen to achieve the goals of the Marketing Plan. It outlines the specific time and duration of actions across a calendar year. It can be segmented in a variety of ways, i.e., by medium, target audience, date, message, geographic markets, or product channel. 

Marketing is dynamic. Some strategies and tactics work better than others. Measurement is vital. Every Marketing Plan should be monitored and managed for optimal results. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are those measurements that let you know how you are doing against your goals and demonstrate the effectiveness of campaigns. KPIs are an actionable scorecard that keeps your strategy on track. They allow you to manage, control and achieve desired business results. KPIs can be in sales revenue, units sold, leads generated, cost per lead, “Likes” on social media, landing page conversion rates, average customer value and many more.