Many business owners or professional services partners don't truly understand the difference between tactical marketing planning and creating a long term marketing strategy. So, in this blog, I cover the things that should be included in a marketing strategy.
1. Target audience
Identifying and understanding your target audience is key to the success of your strategy. Any firm that tries to target “every business” will fail to hit their targets. Marketing activity and messaging will be generic, won’t resonate, won’t get the best results. Marketing resource and budget will be spread so thin and have little or no impact on anyone. The biggest mistake professional service firms make is to try to be everything to everyone.
2. Positioning
Positioning can be defined as “the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market”. In other words, positioning describes how your firm is different from its competitors and where, or how, it sits in client’ minds.
You need to clearly define how you are positioning your firm in the marketplace compared to your competitors.
Use the 3 Ps to help you:
- Purpose - why you exist and the value you create.
- Proposition - what you promise to deliver.
- Personality - how you behave and communicate.
3. Objectives
Your strategy should contain clear long term marketing objectives. Think about these objectives and separate them using the following:
- Brand
- Growth
- Visibility
- Engagement
- Retention
4. Competitors
Take time to assess the competition in your sector and analyse their strengths and weaknesses compared to your own.
5. Differentiation
Defining what makes you different from your competitors in a mature and crowded marketplace is one of the hardest things for professional service firms to do.
Your sector specialisms may be a differentiator, your client service may be the thing that makes your different or the technology you use, or it may be the range of services you offer or a unique service you offer.
However, don’t try and ‘make up’ a differentiator if it isn’t truly what you do or what you are. People will eventually see through this, and it will impact trust and credibility hugely.
You should be able to prove your differentiator either with hard data (client service data for example) or credentials i.e., the clients you have in a specialist sector or the knowledge you have of the sector.
6. Offering
Define and refine your offering, your services / products and the messaging for each of these.
7. Tool / Resource
What tools and resource are required to deliver this strategy and meet your objectives? Whether it's new software, skills or people required.
For many professional services firms marketing is something they do invest in, but often the activity is ad hoc and not well planned. This can often result in diminishing results, disjointed or weak brand or confusion to your prospect market. By having a clear strategy and plan to deliver on your strategy, you'll achieve a much stronger brand and longer term results.