STRA TEGY
Four steps to creating a Watertight Marketing strategy for 2016
WORDS: BY BRYONY THOMAS, AUTHOR OF WATERTIGHT MARKETING
What goals would you like to reach by December 2016? We asked our clients recently. Goals ranged from doubling their profits, to maintaining revenues whilst consolidating their client list. Being in high demand gives you the choice to grow your market through increased customers, or to be more selective whilst increasing prices.
Businesses that achieve either of these, or indeed a little of both, are those that take confident control of how marketing supports sales, by making it Watertight.
When we work with ambitious entrepreneurs, who’ve first estab- lished clear goals amongst an identifiable audience, we break this into four steps:
Delete the mental image of a sales funnel It is commonly understood that marketing generates leads (filling the funnel), handing them to sales to convert.
This view encourages wasteful ‘funnel thinking’ – missing the all-important aspect of keeping customers altogether, and present- ing marketing through a narrow and topsy-turvy lens.
Imagine painting the floor of a room; if you start at the door painting inwards, you’ll find yourself stuck in a corner. Likewise; if you start with awareness and lead generation, you’ll soon be stuck on a bit of a treadmill, with no path to the lofty goals on your business plan.
Turn it around, starting at the bottom, with marketing that supports customer service and loyalty-driving at the top of your list – creat- ing the Bucket in Watertight terminology.
Then, move up to the middle of a buying decision. Here, smart marketing can prove your credentials, provide a gateway to purchase, and give you ways to stay in touch with people who’ve shown an interest. This is the Funnels part of the Watertight Mar- keting analogy.
• STRATEGY •
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