PREDEFINE DASHBOARD
Key to success is a predefined dashboard and target objectives. Over time, the marketing executive and team can demonstrate incremental improvements on ROMI which will be critical not only for continual success, but to establish and maintain credibility with the Board, CEO and executive team.
TARGET OBJECTIVES PER PLATFORM
To create a predefined dashboard, vehicle and platform mediums must be defined with SMART objectives:
> Specific: target a specific area for improvement.
> Measurable: quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress.
> Agreed upon: specify who will do it.
> Realistic: state what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.
> Time-related: specify when the result(s) can be achieved.
REPORTING & EVALUATING RESULTS
There are two primary categories of measurement in marketing: Functional & Emotional.
> Functional: This category of measurement is driven by fiscal success and generally comprises of quantitative results (financial data) used for reporting purposes.
> Emotional: This category of measurement is driven by brand orientated goals (i.e.:preference) or leading indicators (leads) and generally comprises of qualitative results used for operational purposes.
Together, both of these categories of measurement will provide sound guidance on the overall performance of the marketing strategy. Overtime, incremental improvements on ROMI can be demonstrated which will be critical not only for continual success, but to establish and maintain credibility with the Board, CEO and executive team.
MARKET STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
GO TO MARKET STRATEGY
Whether you’re taking a new product to market or implementing the annual marketing plan, your “go-to-market strategy” defines how you’ll be reaching into the marketplace.
It includes a very specific targeting plan for your decision makers and key influencers, the messages for each, and the channels you’ll reach them through. The challenge is typically keeping the plan and programs simple and manageable.
Simplicity is a challenge because of the appeal of the many vehicles and media to reach your targets. Manageability is a challenge because you need to able to hold each program element accountable. Advice for mid-sized companies is generally to keep the number of initiatives small, but varied. With any sized company — managing an optimal mix of impact and return on investment is the goal.
NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH STRATEGY
Launching new products can be challenging for businesses that don't have frequent product releases to develop true expertise in the discipline. Developing a strategy for product launches requires knowledge of the target customers, the channels for reaching them, the competitive and overall market environment, and an up-to-date, working knowledge of effective marketing and communications tactics.
The strategy should be driven by a set of goals which may include sales volume (revenue or units) trial, and adoption or satisfaction metrics (usage, or net promoter score) and market preparation goals (training, merchandising).
Not surprisingly, there are tremendous variances depending on the products and markets served. The key discipline for success is alignment (internally within your company, and externally throughout your market ecosystem) which is driven by clarity and frequency of communications.
CHANNEL CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Channels help companies bring products into the marketplace where purchase decisions are made. Channel partners are companies made up of people who typically have competing priorities and make decisions based on two dimensions:
> Where can they make the most money, and
> How easy it will be to accomplish
Developing, supporting and encouraging good channel behavior includes creating opportunities, as well as training, arming and incentivizing channel sales teams, including keeping a level playing field. Every channel partner should be motivated by opportunity and not discouraged by competing inefficiently with other company channels.
While many companies consider channel partners as largely passive players in the distribution of their goods, the truth is that channel partners make a significant investment in time – which is continuously being reprioritized based upon current opportunities.
Managing channel conflict is usually as simple as being intentional and strategic, recognizing and respecting each channel and channel partner’s role and needs. The most classic channel conflict is where in-house company sales teams or online offerings compete directly (same territories, same target companies, same products) with the company’s channel partners. Even in these situations, the business can reduce or eliminate conflict by competing fairly and openly, not creating undue advantage with discounting or add-ons.
BRAND POSITIONING STRATEGY
Positioning a brand is serious business. There are several key questions which have to be answered in brand positioning.
First, we need to determine WHAT dimensions are critical to the positioning. This has everything to do with the target customers. What are their top 2-5 core criteria for decision making?
Second, we need to understand WHERE the brand is currently positioned, assuming it's already in market. Often this sort of analysis is conducted to determine what GAPS are underserved, which presents a potential positioning opportunity of WHERE you’d like to be positioned.
The third step is determining if the new positioning opportunity is purely a matter of messaging (relating what you do, why it’s relevant, and how it’s different) or a matter of bolstering your offerings.
In the end, we're trying to determine what your brand should stand for. (Note: not all that you or your products and services can do.) Why do you exist? What is your outright ambition? What's the single idea you want to own in your customers’ mind?
Once we've cracked it—then, we’ll work on establishing how you’ll deliver this brand positioning strategy in your marketing and sales activities.
PRODUCT POSITIONING STRATEGY
This is really all about market fir and differentiation. Good product positioning strategy requires looking both internally and externally.
First, your business as a whole needs to be properly positioned, then your product or services portfolio needs to be positioned. Some companies fail to recognize that their own offerings need to “hang together” and make sense – relative to one another and to your business overall.
When a company has diverging offerings or brands, they might best consider two different company banners. Similarly, when companies try to extend the brand of a product in too many directions they can dilute the value of the offering and confuse the customer.
With a product portfolio that makes sense, your business also needs to successfully differentiate each product from its competition. Typically, there are three key dimensions to positioning: functionality, relevance and differentiation. When offerings are new (perhaps based on new technology) and not well understood, the positioning is around what the offering does (e.g., now you can watch movies in high definition).
When offerings are commodities, the positioning is around your differentiation strategy, and in extreme cases, positioning around the emotional experience (e.g., a beer might claim to be the coldest, which is not actually a unique attribute of the product. It may then go further by putting a temperature gauge on the can to prove it’s cold—you get the idea).
COMPETITIVE PRICING STRATEGY
Pricing strategy has its roots in the very heart of competitive positioning. If your company boasts a better product or service and also leads in market reputation (or brand) then you have the opportunity to command premium pricing.
However, an initial question becomes: to what degree are my customers price-sensitive? In many cases, especially in small or middle market companies, the unique value your offerings bring may fully justify a premium price. On the other hand, if you lack a competitive presence or are subject to a negative reputation, no amount of pricing discount may equalize your handicap.
Understanding these basic dynamics in your competitive marketplace will allow you to create a model to inform your pricing strategy – are you optimizing for volume, or margin, or for predictability? Your pricing strategy may also allow for opportunistic situations such as capturing first order to prove value for a longer term relationship.
The main caution in developing a pricing optimization strategy is this: don’t make your sales organization your sole source of input. Dig deeper and broader to ensure you have a balanced perspective.
COMPETITIVE POSITIONING STRATEGY
Positioning strategy, by its very nature, involves your value relative to your competition. What do you do or offer that’s better (or not as competitive) as others who offer similar products and services? When these differences are identified, supported with proof points, and properly merchandised your prospects will have an accurate and compelling basis to compare your company to others. However, there is always more to understanding your offerings than defining them in light of competitive offers.
Companies can easily make the mistake of “over positioning” their products and services. As there are three dimensions to establishing value propositions – what it is you DO, why it’s RELEVANT and how it’s DIFFERENT – companies, marketers and sales teams can focus too much attention on differentiation before assuring the first two dimensions are understood. Your customers are typically most interested in getting their problems solved. If it’s not clear how you’re going to do that, comparing yourself to your competition (even subtly) won’t matter.
NEW PRODUCT/SERVICE STRATEGY
Creating new products, offerings and services must be validated by understanding customer needs. This is simple when there is good communication between sales and support teams. Gathering feedback from customers about product roadmaps, features, usability, installation, and overall value and appeal is essential to the development of any new product, offering or service.
MARKET EXPANSION STRATEGY
Learning how to expand your target markets — whether by customer type or geographic location – is often the linchpin for sustained growth. This requires a synchronization of operational capabilities and marketing to assure the market expansion strategy is viable and can actually be implemented. New market knowledge is critical to success, and consists of developing insights from target customers, assessing relevance and appeal versus competitive offerings, understanding the sales process and other offering delivery requirements. Maintaining clarity of the strategy just across the executive team, let alone the company, can be a huge task when the expansion strategy requires the company to reposition itself.
PRODUCT DIVERSIFICATION STRATEGY
Diversifying your product portfolio can lead to expanding your share of wallet with your customer base, as well as make your offerings appeal to a broader market base. The key is tying product development resources (engineering, product management, etc.) to real customer requirements and maintaining the customers’ perspectives of wants, needs and usages throughout the development process. Alpha and beta testing with customers is essential before finalizing go-to-market plans.
OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS
Related to a market expansion strategy as well as product diversification, a market opportunity analysis can be used to flesh out potential ideas. The very notion suggests that a company is more interested in a market perspective than its own often-assumptive perspective. The scope of such analysis can range from straight forward and short-term, to expansive and longer term. An initial sense of what’s at stake may call for patience in conducting the more comprehensive study. Or, competitive pressures may drive a company to quickly complete its assessment. The outcome should include: target markets (by type and geography), current solutions assessments (how problems are being solved today), an extrapolation of solutions scenarios (often driven by forecasting the impact of technology and other economic drivers).
COMPETITIVE AUDIT ANALYSIS
In a crowded market (some refer to this as a red ocean), competitive intelligence is critical to both operational and strategic decision making. A rigorous and regular approach to competitive position, direction, and strengths and weaknesses can help senior executives identify gaps and opportunities. The implications and usages for such learnings can be highly strategic (what new markets or segments should be pursued) to very tactical (what messaging will better position our offerings in our on-going promotional activity.
MARKET SEGMENTATION STRATEGY
Segmenting markets, targets and opportunities can yield greater clarity and more specific relevance for a company and its offerings. In some cases the same product can be repositioned to be made more relevant to a segment. In other cases, a solid market segmentation strategy will help justify new market entries and product development. This activity always leads to greater insights and clarity for how a company can serve its current and potential markets.