We’ve all had a tap-on-the-monster Minecraft victory and a click-and-hope Minesweeper win. But while random clicking can occasionally deliver results, it will not consistently put your initials up on the hi-score screen.
The same goes for marketing. While marketing on a wing and prayer can work, it’s not an approach that delivers repeatable, predictable results. And unlike the quarter you’re putting into the Zaxxon machine, you’re putting real money on the line (about 13.5% of your annual budget) – and your brand reputation.
If you’re going to spend time and resources putting yourself out there, you want to know not only that your efforts will deliver but that you can recreate (and improve upon) those same outcomes. Doing that requires goal-setting, strategy, and careful measurement—not a roll of the 12-sided dice.
Marketing: Not a Side Quest
Marketing isn’t a walk in the park or a stroll through Stardew Valley. It’s high-stakes stuff. It’s the final boss level of brand development. Show up with the right stuff, and you’ll:
- Boost brand awareness
- Target key audiences
- Build customer relationships
- Elevate brand sentiment
- Separate yourself from the competition
- Drive sales and conversions.
And all with legit ROI based upon clear, well-defined budgets and guidelines. So don’t treat marketing as a side quest that is a secondary path to your primary business goal. Make it something integrated into your overall plan for business growth – so you can leverage its power for brand-wide success.
In contrast, approaching marketing willy-nilly is like playing a game in hardcore mode. You’ll find yourself dealing with:
- Budgets that fall short
- Poor return on your efforts
- Missed opportunities
- Internal confusion and lack of cohesion.
Think Strategy, not Sandbox.
The thing about marketing is that it’s like a big ol’ sandbox game: really, you can do anything you want. Like Terraria or Sims, there’s no limit on what you can do or what kind of approach you can take. But as anyone who’s had a Sim die of malnutrition knows all too well, setting goals and designing a strategy for success makes for way better gameplay. In fact, companies who use marketing strategies are 674% more likely to succeed!
A marketing strategy is like the playbook you neglected to read the first time you broke out Settlers of Catan. It’s boring but important. Documenting a strategy helps your organization build towards a particular brand future based on your value proposition and market position. When you have an overall marketing strategy, you can start creating marketing plans – which are smaller, more granular campaigns within a larger marketing context. Think of a marketing strategy as your marketing “mission” and your marketing plan as the map you will use to achieve that mission over a set period, such as a quarter or a year. From there, you want to drill down one extra level into marketing tactics – the “tools” you will use to achieve your marketing plans and win your mission.
Don’t Roll for your Stats
You don’t use a random number generator when creating a character for a D&D mission. You carefully build a well-balanced character who also contrasts with the other players in the game.
Designing a marketing strategy is similar. First, define your main business goal(s). These will depend on how mature your brand is and what you want your growth trajectory to look like. Maybe you want to diversify your income or build brand awareness. Perhaps you want to increase market share or beat the competition. Then, figure out who you need to reach to make it happen and the channels you’ll use to reach them.
Crucially, measure everything. In games, every milestone is measured and saved to your stats. Do the same thing in marketing. Constantly compare your results against your goals; pivot if you’re not where you need to be. For newer campaigns or tactics, you’ll want to measure and reset more often than for more proven techniques. Additionally, as you hit your targets, redefine your goals so you’re always moving forward.
Game On: Hire StellaPop as your Marketing Strategists
Ready to take out a top score in the marketing and strategy game? Talk to StellaPop. We’ll work with you to identify a killer brand strategy, design high-impact marketing plans, and develop omnichannel marketing tactics that your customers simply can’t ignore. Ready, Player One?
