We could talk about marketing trends all day long, diving into the rise of influencer marketing and AI-driven content creation or the importance of sustainable marketing and data-driven campaigns.
While those trends are undoubtedly important for keeping your marketing strategy adaptable and relevant, there’s one invariable truth: the fundamentals of marketing are unchanging.
Let’s get back to basics and discuss why the right offer priced optimally and promoted to your ideal audience with strategic messaging through a curated media mix can be effective in driving results—without the frills of flashy marketing trends.
The Unchanging Fundamentals of Marketing
The foundations of marketing can be condensed into four fundamentals—offer, price, promotion and place. When you implement these key elements into marketing strategies, you’re going to see meaningful results (even if you ignore what’s “trendy” in marketing).
Create the Best Offer
You’ve likely defined the ideal audience for your products or services, but can you hone those insights further? (Hint: “everyone” is not a target audience!)
What does your audience want? What do they care about? Can you solve problems or challenges your audience faces? What can your company offer to make their life easier and help them achieve their goals?
These are all questions you need to ask when refining your offers to drive business growth. The answers will build the foundation of your entire marketing plan. This is your opportunity to create value for your customers, foster loyalty and set you apart from the competition, lending to long-term business success.
To stimulate further brainstorming when creating enticing offers, consider:
- Has your target audience changed? Have their concerns evolved?
- What are the demographics, psychographics and behaviors of your target market?
- Is there existing competition, and if so, how is your offering different?
- What makes your offer unique?
- Why should the audience choose your offer over competitors’?
- What are the potential challenges associated with your offer?
- Is your offer scalable for future growth?
- How will you collect feedback from early users or customers?
- What is your long-term vision for your brand?
Set it at an Ideal Price
The next step in refining your offer is finding the ideal price point. When determining the right price, it’s important to ask yourself two questions: what do customers expect and how are competitors pricing similar products or services?
While you definitely don’t want to undervalue your products or services, you don’t want to go too high, either, as this could turn off prospects. Instead, aim to align the price of your offer with the value it provides.
Though these questions and considerations will help you gauge pricing options, ultimately, it’s up to you to determine what you charge.
Build the Perfect Promotion
To effectively and concisely communicate your offer to your ideal target audience, you must craft the right message and build the perfect promotion.
- Understand your audience and what messaging will resonate. For example, you wouldn’t talk to a millennial the way you would talk to a baby boomer because they each have a vastly different set of drivers and concerns. These distinctions could make or break a campaign.
- Craft a compelling message highlighting the benefits of your offer. Focus on your audience’s needs and how your solution adds value to their lives. Remember, it’s not necessarily about what you want to say but rather what your audience needs to hear.
- Embrace uniqueness and creativity with your campaign, as this will help capture the attention of your target audience and differentiate your brand from competitors. Consider implementing storytelling, user-generated content, giveaways, influencer partnerships and more.
Find the Proper Place to Market
This is your moment—the time when you showcase your refined offer in a way that effectively communicates its value proposition.
During the execution phase of your marketing strategy, there are a few key aspects you need to consider to ensure your promotions are successful:
- Choose the right marketing channel. Where are your prospects—physically and digitally? It’s important to find the most effective channel to reach your audience. Often, this includes a mix of online and traditional offline channels, like social media, billboards, radio and email marketing.
- Ensure synergy and consistency across all marketing channels. This helps to create a unified brand experience, reinforces your message and fosters stronger brand recognition.
- Measure and optimize. Develop and track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, conversion rates, sales enablement metrics and return on investment (ROI). Use this data to refine your strategies and optimize your campaigns for better results.
- Embrace adaptability by using the data and metrics gathered when measuring the performance of your promotion. This will help refine your strategy and optimize your campaign for the best possible results.
Digital marketing is essential, but don’t underestimate the power of human connection. The art of relationship building is still an important component of any marketing strategy.
Interactions at trade shows, 1:1 meetings, speaking engagements and networking events are all still effective and important ways to gain brand recognition—and they’ll complement your digital efforts to create a stronger campaign overall.
Get Back to (Marketing) Basics
As you navigate the complexities of today’s market, it’s important to recognize that an impactful marketing campaign doesn’t need to be complicated—it can be as simple as tapping into these four foundational pillars of marketing.
Understand your audience, create a value-driven offer and strategically price and promote it using the right channels and messaging. With the right approach, you can achieve your marketing goals while staying true to timeless principles that drive results.
If you’re looking for a marketing partner to take the reins and create a customized marketing strategy for your business, contact Giant Voices. We’re here to help you achieve your revenue goals.
(Hint: if you’re teetering between hiring a marketing professional or a marketing agency, it’s best to hire a herd of workhorses, not a magical unicorn!)
