Marketing Made Simple #22

Strategy 👉 Actionable steps 👉 Day-to-Day operations   

Bonjour, Hello,

Welcome back to our marketing journey! Today, I want to give you some food for thought about your marketing strategy and how you should approach it.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but for a long time, strategy was synonymous with big consulting firms like McKinsey or Boston Consulting Group. However, I have some reservations about their approach. It seems to me (and maybe I’m wrong!) that these firms dedicate countless hours to crafting extensive documents—often spanning a hundred pages—merely to please the management team. Unfortunately, these documents often end up collecting dust in a drawer, as nobody knows how to implement them.

Allow me to simplify things for you. A “strategy” is simply a plan of action designed to achieve long-term goals. What truly matters is translating that strategy into actionable steps and executing it in your day-to-day operations.

TLDR (key takeaways):

• Consider your time, budget, and resources when developing your marketing strategy.
• Be selective and prioritize actions that will have the greatest impact on your business.
• Marketing requires consistency, trial and error, and patience for long-term results.
• Reflection question: Have you thought on your 2024 marketing strategy yet?

Picture yourself in the driver seat, embarking on a journey from point A to point B

To ensure a successful trip, your strategy should involve the following elements:

• Choose the most efficient route to reach your destination as quickly as possible.
• Anticipate a budget for fuel and food expenses to cover the trip.
• Identify locations along the way where you can refuel your car.
• Plan rest stops where you can take a break and purchase food for the road.

When it comes to your business, this strategy (or plan of action) depends on three crucial elements: time, budget, and resources.

• Consider how much time you can dedicate to your marketing activities – whether it’s a few hours or a more substantial commitment.
• Evaluate your budget and determine the investment you are willing to make – be it $1,000 or $12,000 per year.
• Assess your available resources, considering whether you’re a one-person business or have a team to rely on.

Let’s be realistic. You cannot simply copy paste what big brands can do. For a small business, being strategic means being selective. It involves precisely defining what you want to achieve and having the courage to say “no, not this year” to other opportunities.

If your time is limited, it’s crucial to prioritize and focus on actions that will have the greatest impact on your business.Being strategic means choosing the most effective courses of action, even though predicting outcomes is challenging without a crystal ball.

Marketing is about:

• Consistency. It involves showing up to your audience day after day, building trust and familiarity. 
• Trial and error. It is the nature of the game, with some efforts resonating and others falling short. 
• Patience. Overnight results are rare; marketing is a long-term investment. SEO experts recommend waiting at least three months to see the effectiveness of new SEO efforts, while PR experts suggest it takes six months to secure media coverage. Building a solid, engaged social media following can take between six months to a year (or even longer). 

By understanding these realities, you can approach your marketing strategy with realistic expectations, persistence, and a focus on long-term success.

Reflection question of the week

What are the three primary marketing goals you aim to achieve in 2024? For each objective, let’s establish a couple of SMART goals and outline the specific day-to-day actions required to accomplish them.

See an example below:
KEY OBJECTIVE: Increase brand awareness 

SMART GOAL #1: +20% IG followers by the end of the year
DAY-TO-DAY ACTIONS:
– Post 3 times/week + 3 storys/week
– Organize a contest on IG

SMART GOAL #2: Launch a brand awareness campaign in summer 2024
DAY-TO-DAY ACTIONS:
– Develop 1 partnership with 1 like-minded local brand to tap into its community – Be invited as a guest in a podcast
– 3 weeks online advertising (budget 1,500 USD)
– Create a specific landing page for the campaign

That’s a wrap for today! Got queries or thoughts? Reach me at hello@jconsulting.solutions.