Whether you’re just starting out or have a whole team of sales and marketing professionals, ready to tackle the heavy subjects, it’s important to consider the big ideas and concepts in marketing, as well as the day-to-day social media scheduling and paid advertising. From a strategic standpoint, here are a few things you should be thinking about.
Persona profiles
It’s not enough to just view your target audience as a group of people, you need to really get in to the mindset. Create persona profiles of your typical customer; how old are they, what do they enjoy doing, how much free time do they have, how do they like to shop? Create a vivid image in your head.
Value proposition mapping
Once you’ve worked out your persona profiles, create a map of their journey with you as a brand and the value propositioning and content assets along the way. Often, doing it in this way can help you to uncover (and fix) any gaps in your messaging.
Brand positioning
Think about how your brand is viewed, both externally and internally. What are your key messages, how are you delivering them and is the message consistent?
Launch planning
Launches can be extremely powerful and effective when delivered in the right way. Planning ahead and getting as many experts as possible involved will ensure for a successful one.
Pipeline conversion
Not only should you be aware of the sales pipeline and the targets within it, but an underlying thought of conversion should always be present too. How will you actually convert sales leads into customers?
Lead scoring
As well as generating leads, you need to come up with a model and some criteria as to how to “score” them. How qualified are they, and as a result, how much of your sales and marketing resources should you pump into them?
Sales social presence
When considering social media platforms, it’s normal to put your best marketing foot forward. But how can you get the sales side of things involved? Think about opportunities, engagement and approach.