Marketing should not be seen as just another department within the organization; the marketing function should sit at the core of any successful organisation, key to competitive survival. According to the CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing): “The best brands or businesses create a special relationship with their customers, based on intangible qualities that evoke strong emotional responses, a true dialogue.”
So, given marketing’s importance to overall business achievement, when did you last give your marketing a health check with these top 10 questions to keep your brand in shape.
1. What market are you in?
No, it’s not a rhetorical question. You’d be amazed at how many brand owners, even large corporates, that can’t succinctly (or consistently) answer this question. That’s because it’s often not the most obvious answer. And the answer does change with time and market conditions. One of the first things to learn in marketing is it’s not all about you; it’s about your customers – UCB (Unique Customer Benefit) rather than USP (Unique Selling Point). What do customers want and how can you meet that need? The more precise your market definition is, the more focussed your targeting and the more cost effective you can make your communications.
2. Where do you think you sit in your market?
Have you identified the key differentiators in your market and plotted where you believe you sit versus your competitors? For example, are you taking a value or a premium position? Are you a niche specialist provider or a generalist? (Generalists may feel that they have spread their risk and widened their potential market but, in many cases, they can suffer at the hands of specialists in each area in which they operate.) Are you a market leader or a market follower? Are you an innovator or a me-too brand? (Innovators in markets may get the glory but it is often the second to market brands that benefit from that innovation and are the more financially successful.)
3. How does that compare with other people’s perceptions of you?
It’s all very well you thinking you’re one thing, but do those around you agree? There’s no point honing your communications to reflect your view of what you offer if the marketplace sees you as something completely different. Not only will your communication be a mismatch with their expectations; it could also possibly have negative repercussions on their image of you for the future. So it’s important to check that your perceptions of yourself (image, values, essence) match the market’s perception of you. If they don’t, one of you needs to change – and that may well have to be you!
4. What’s your true brand essence?
What makes your brand or business special? What are those intangible aspects of your brand that connect with customers and form a true dialogue? Now you know what market you’re in, where you sit (perceptually and actually) in that market and who your target audience are, you can really hone down your true brand essence. Start by writing it down in a couple of paragraphs. Then reduce it to a couple of sentences. And then reduce it to no more than half a dozen words. Think of it as The Sun headline for your business. Keep challenging it with the “so what?” question (a powerful tool in many areas of marketing) until you have it polished. And then, challenge everything you do against it.
5. How much do you know about your consumers?
No, I’m not talking socio-economic or acorn groupings. The days of putting groups of consumers into neat “market segmentation” boxes is over. The questions for brand owners now are about: Where do your consumers go? What do they do? How do they buy? Who do they talk to? Who do they listen to? Yes, it is more difficult to learn about them individually but, done properly, you can engage with your current and prospective customers in a way that builds the brand experience… for both of you.
6. How do you engage with your customers?
Brand marketing used to be about influencing consumer behaviour through persuasive brand messages. But is anyone listening any more? Today’s consumers are more powerful than ever before and information hungry. They are influenced by their peer group, over which the brand owner has little or no power. Don’t look to try and control all messaging. Modern consumers will comment on their experience with your brand or business; respond to negative, as well as positive, criticism. Brand owners need to engage with their consumers and treat them all as individuals. Being seen to be human and honest is a strong start to being seen as a brand for the 21st century.
7. How does your brand make people feel?
But today’s marketing challenge is not only about what your brand stands for; it’s also about how you want to leave people feeling as a result of coming into contact with your brand. It’s all about meaningful contact – known technically as “emotive branding”. It means knowing – and living – your brand’s reason for being, it’s true essence. By having a meaningful dialogue with its customers, a brand can encourage a more emotional bond with them. In turn, you will create brand advocates who will care more, think more, talk more and do more for your brand.
8. Does your marketing strategy include all aspects of communication?
One thing that I find amazing is how all brands, large and small, old and new, are jumping on the social media bandwagon with gay abandon. Yes, social media offers brands a wonderful opportunity to engage with consumers but, like any other form of marketing communication, it needs to be managed as part of an overall marketing strategy. Being on Twitter or Facebook is not an end in itself; it is just another option in the marketing mix.
The same applies to websites. Before rushing down the SEO or Google Ads route, you need to decide whether your customers are even looking for you, or your type of business, online and, if so, what will make you stand out?
9. When did you last challenge your marketing agencies?
In the same way that you know it makes sense to have professionals like an accountant or HR professional to bring their specialist skills to your business, a marketing professional can add value too. But with the plethora of PR, experiential, design and brand agencies out there, how do you know who to use? And, if you already have marketing agencies on board, when did you last check that they are still as keen for your business as they should be, have a clear strategy to meet your objectives and are measurable and accountable for that? If not recently, then perhaps you should!
10. Is your marketing strategy aligned with company financial objectives?
And, at the end of the day, all of the above is only relevant in as much as it feeds into your overall company financial objectives. Your marketing strategy needs to be an intrinsic part of your business strategy and should be measured accordingly. There is no such thing as “nice to do” in marketing; everything has to have a stated purpose and the outcome needs to be measurable, both qualitatively and quantitatively (in terms of ROI). If you’ve been on sales training courses, you’ll have heard of SMART goals – well, your marketing needs to be smart too!
All tips are ©Barbara Stopher, The Marketing Mentor. This is just the tip of a full marketing health check. If you are interested and need help to take an objective view of your business, please visit my website and get in touch
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