Is marketing part of the plan in 2020?

I don’t know if it’s the synergy or it being a nice round number, but 2020 does have a positive ring to it. The prospect of a shiny, new fresh year gives a sense of hope and optimism; a chance to reflect and review the lessons learned of the past year and focus on plans and aims for the next 12 months.
So, what will 2020 have in store for you and your business? Will marketing play a part in your plans this year?
Being clear about where you want the business to be in 2020 and what you will be doing to help get it there, inevitably involves a ‘how’ and ‘who’ aspect. This is where integrating marketing can help you develop a strategic plan that avoids a splatter gun, ‘suck it and see’ approach which can be costly and unfulfilling – on numerous counts which I discussed in a previous post.

- Determine the focus of the marketing strategy
Is the aim for 2020 to raise brand awareness, increase market share, customer loyalty and retention, or introduce new productions or services? Determining the strategy focus will help you position the product/service to the chosen target market/s and against competitors.

- Who is your target audience?
Unless you’re a company like Cocoa Cola who has the budget and resources to mass market effectively, having a more focused approach will help you channel activities, services, messages and propositions. You will likely have more than one market but it’s about determining which of those markets are the most lucrative and channel resources appropriately.

- How can you tactically reach and communicate with those customers?
There are many marketing channels you can implement but not all will be appropriate for your chosen target markets and addressing the strategic focus you’ve set for the year. Whether it’s utilising social media, direct marketing, PR profile raising, networking, events, reviewing branding and POS or customer touch points throughout the business, the chosen tactics implemented, when regularly monitored and analysed, will enable you to continually address the strategic aims.An integrated marketing plan would involve several different marketing tactics to ensure your efforts are giving maximum opportunity to generate positive results. Simply using one tactic, such as social media, wouldn’t have near as bigger impact as it would when integrated with a PR strategy and effective CRM email campaign for example. 

Setting a budget for marketing activity can be when many businesses resort to just using the ‘free’ channels of social media to save costs. A marketing strategy does not need to have a huge budget for it be successful, on the contrary. However, there does need to be a sense of realism, creativity, expertise and resource attributed for it to generate the positive returns required to address the aims set. 

Consistency is also key. Whether it’s creative, messaging, tone, or verbal and physical interaction with staff, all must be singing from the same hymn sheet. These branding ‘codes’ should become synonymous with your business and work as a differentiator to competitors. I had the pleasure of hearing Mark Ritson speak at The Levitt Group Annual Lecture a few months ago when he discussed the value and importance of branding codes in attracting and retaining customers to your business over the competition – and that’s what we all want in 2020!

Happy marketing planning!