How to Develop a Marketing Strategy

Let me begin this by saying: I am NOT a marketing person. I am GOD AWFUL at it from start to finish (lookin’ at you, my inability to engage with social media!). 

Here’s the thing: marketing is an ESSENTIAL business function, meaning your business will not succeed long-term if you don’t devote some time or resources to it. Effective marketing campaigns directly contribute to your sales $$$.

So where do you start if you, like me, are absolutely clueless when it comes to how to develop your marketing strategy? You ask the experts. So I checked in with some, and they all had the same response: you start with your target audience. 

The next question is: what the hell is my target audience? The by-the-book answer is that it is the group of people most likely to buy something from your business. The more useful answer is when you think of the person who represents your ideal client. 

Ask yourself the following questions about this ideal client you have in mind:

This person and people like this person make up your target audience. 

Picking your logo, your tagline, a social media post and caption, color schemes, fonts, and so much more become much MUCH easier (and honestly more effective marketing) when you have a specific person in mind. Make sure that all of your messaging is framed as though you are talking directly to this ideal client.

Let’s say your target audience is working parents. They are busy! They’re probably looking for things that provide balance, things that make their lives less complicated. 

Simplicity, ease, safety, comfort, are just a few examples of keywords that come to mind that may resonate with this particular group of ideal clients. So, as I am developing marketing strategies (such as where and when to advertise, what my branding looks and feels like, the words I use in captions and on my website, etc.) I want to keep these keywords in mind.

The images, words, color palette, and overall vibe of all of my content (including logos and taglines) should elicit these keywords. Can’t think of a color that emulates “safety”? Google is your best friend here.

Still need more advice on where to start and how to brand your business? Take a look at my Brand Book Template: a step-by-step, fill-in-the-blank style guide to help you figure out what your brand identity is, and therefore how to start marketing. 

The Brand Book Template contains all of the basic components of a brand and explains them to you in a way which will allow you to easily build your own and inexpensively (until you can hire a professional, of course, because let’s be real here: there’s no substitute for expertise if you can afford it!).