Where and Why - The Two Key Components of Your Marketing Strategy

One of the roles of your marketing team is to help your develop a marketing strategy. For most individual professionals or small practice groups, this can be a relatively straightforward task. The trick is not to over-analyze things and let risk assessment slow you down.

Most marketing plans are designed to be nimble and to incorporate learnings along the way. The majority of your tactics will be small actions such as writing a blog, attending industry events or hosting a seminar. When you are taking a lot of small steps, it is easier to stop to asses your direction and adjust your course.

I never worry about action, but only inaction.

Winston Churchill

That being said, the bigger the objective, the bigger the review process should be. An organization shouldn’t be opening up a new office in a foreign country, embarking on a total rebrand or launching a new practice area without some careful planning and research.

Where and Why: Two Key Components of Your Marketing Strategy

There are two important components that you should include in your basic strategy before your start looking at tactics. The first is to determine where you should focus your marketing efforts. Your practice may cover a few areas, but trying to actively market to all of them will likely result in making little impact anywhere. (See post "10 questions to help you prioritize your marketing”.)

The second step is to understand what differentiates you / your offering from the competition. Why should clients choose you? This message may not appeal to everyone. In fact, if it doesn't appeal to everyone then you are probably on the right track.

Perhaps the most common error firms and professionals make in their marketing is trying to be all things to all people. Addressing the question of where to focus your efforts, figuring out what sets you apart from the competition and sticking to the plan is what will help your marketing investment generate results.

People think focus means saying yes to the things you’ve got to focus on.

But that’s not what it means at all.

It means saying no to the hundreds of other good ideas.

Steve Jobs

The hard part often isn’t sticking to the strategy; it’s saying no to the other opportunities when they inevitably appear. Time and resources are limited so the marketing team should keep everyone focussed on the agreed priorities so that they can be executed effectively.