What IS (and what ISN'T) a Marketing Strategy?
There's a lot of confusion in Marketing between a TACTIC and a STRATEGY. And I think it's time for a tell-all article that gets everything out on the table.
So, let's not waste any time with intros and hop right into it.
Strategy = a plan of action designed to achieve an overall aim.
Tactic = steps you undertake to accomplish your strategy.
Your Strategy defines where you are going (your overall AIM) and how you plan to get there. Your Tactics TAKE you there.
If you Google search, "best marketing strategies for B2B", the top rated articles ALL talk about tactics. But a stack of Tactics does NOT make a Strategy by default. You can't JUST do things. You need to know where you're going and what you expect the deliverables to be along the way.
What IS part of a Marketing Strategy?
Let's break this down. What do we need in a plan of action that will show us how we can reach our overall goal? Which, let's be honest...is SALES.
So, what can we do in marketing that will lead to sales. OK, got it.
But how to answer that question?
OK, so marketing's job is to create opportunities for people to know who we are. And not just any people. The people who we can help.
Which means, we better talk about WHO we're talking to.
A People Strategy
I do this fun activity with my clients - it's called the Brand Campfire. It's a meditation-like experience that helps people tap into WHO they would want to invite to their campfire, and who they would not.
It's based on FEELINGS of belonging, instead of demographics. Why? Because the relationships people build with brands are based on experiences and feelings, not how old they are, or their household income 💡
And it's exercises like this that allow you to know WHO you REALLY want as part of your brand community. People - yes, that means employees, clients, partners, investors and vendors alike - who MATCH your brand.
Everyone knows they need to choose an "ideal client". But most of those efforts are done with the head instead of the heart. The exact opposite of how it should be done IF you want it to be meaningful.
And while people will spend hundreds of thousands of mental calories on the demographic profile of WHO, that's not going to feed your strategy. And let's not even get me started on how having the wrong WHO employed in your marketing department is breaking things.
A Unique Brand Narrative
People LOVE to talk about "Content Strategy". Otherwise known as a "plan for creating content". But if that plan doesn't take people along the journey of the brand story, content becomes mostly irrelevant.
You need to know where you're going, so your content can be created to TAKE people there.
So, if you could narrow what your business does down to ONE Thing, what would it be?
Oh yeah, and don't forget to run what you come up with past your competitors websites to see if you sound EXACTLY the same as they do. Not the way to stand out in the crowd, my friends.
A unique brand narrative has to be, what I like to call, Specific Yet Generic.
Specific in that YOU are the only business focusing on X important piece of the problem.
Generic in that EVERYONE gets (in their own definition) what you're talking about.
For example, let's say you're one of the 50 web developers who has LinkedIn messaged me pretty much the EXACT same connection message, making your services all about price. Let's say you DIDN'T do that, and instead shared a story with me about how "authentic digital design" is your jam.
Now, knowing me, and my obsession with authenticity, which one do you think makes you stand out more?
Will people be searching for "authentic digital design"? Perhaps not the majority of people, no. But that's because the majority of people aren't looking for that.
Only the RIGHT people are looking for that.
And when your Narrative aligns with your People...that's when we make magic.
Defined Content Pillars (aka Lived Corporate Values)
Another thing companies love to talk about...VALUES.
But values on a wall don't mean anything if they don't come to LIFE in your marketing efforts.
So, how can you bring them to life?
I'm a fan of incorporating your culture pillars into content pillars. Which allow you to build your marketing Tactics on a solid foundation (which is kind of what having a Strategy is all about).
Let's take one of my favorite values as an example - Curiosity. How might that look from a content pillar point of view?
I might ask questions as part of my content strategy
I might enable my team to be curious on other social media posts
I might create space for my team members to ask strategic questions
I might start a LinkedIn Live series about Curiosity
I might hashtag “curiosity” in my social media posts
I might celebrate team members who have shown curiosity publicly
I say "might" because it's not that any of these are right or wrong. They are simply options I can consider.
But let's say I DON'T do ANY of those things. Would my marketing program be demonstrating Curiosity? Unlikely.
P.S. This is also a great exercise for understanding whether or not your corporate values are being lived by your team 💡
A Funnel
Oh look! Another jargon word everyone wants to use.
A funnel is nothing more than the FLOW of people through your marketing to sales. But more often than not, that FLOW doesn't flow.
There are gaps in the pipe. Or pinches. Or rusty bits. And pretty soon, marketing isn't making ANY contribution to the revenue of the business.
Which, if I'm being honest, most companies have just accepted. But it really shouldn't be the case.
Remember how the definition of Strategy talked about "achieving an overall aim"? Yeah, we're talking RESULTS.
And if marketing is just "out in the void" creating "visibility", there's no real results to speak of.
So let's speak of them.
At the end of the day, marketing exists to enable SALES. It's either doing that or it's not. And when we have a map of HOW this plumbing system is supposed to work, we can identify gaps, and weak points, and clogs. But if we DON'T have the map, when things stop flowing, we have no idea how to fix it.
Metrics That Matter
Ok, the last piece of the Marketing Strategy puzzle is metrics. Some of you might know them as KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) or OKR (Objectives & Key Results). Honestly, I think the terms are just semantics. We're talking about how to measure what matters .
To do that, we need to know what matters.
So, I'll ask you. What matters?
Now...what if we could only pick ONE Thing that mattered the MOST?
Would you pick the number of views? Engagements? Page hits? Blog posts? Shares? Conversations? Sales?
If our goal is to create SALES, then our measurement should be connected to SALES.
And it's OK to track additional metrics that will give you insight into HOW people are moving through the funnel, and how effective your activities are, but that's getting into the tactical side of things. Not the Strategy side.
If your marketing CAN'T be tied to sales, then what is it really doing? If it's just tracking tactical DOING, it's NOT strategic.
What's Your Rating?
Here's where the rubber hits the road, friends.
If you were to give yourself a score out of 5, how would you do? Here's what I generally see in B2B SME's:
❌ Marketing People Strategy
❌ A Unique Brand Narrative
❌ Value-Based Content Pillars
❌ A Flowing Funnel
❌ Metrics That Matter
You can try ALL the Tactics that you want, but if you don't have ALL 5 of these things working for you, your marketing ISN'T working for you.
Because you DON'T have a Marketing Strategy.
You have a stack of Marketing Tactics. And MAYBE they'll get you where you're going. But not by design. Solely based on luck.
Your business deserves more than that. Don't you think?
It's time to invest in a Marketing Strategy that WORKS for your business. And I know just who you can call to get started 😊
