The Importance of Regularly Reviewing Your Marketing Strategy and Tactics

1. The Importance of Regularly Reviewing Your Marke:ng Strategy and Tac:cs A businesses marke-ng strategy isn’t merely a document that’s created at the start of a new financial year, printed out on nice A3 paper, and le= to gather dust under a pile of paperwork on management’s desks. Craig Rosewarne, Managing Director of CR Marke-ng Consul-ng, emphasises that regularly checking in on your strategy and tac-cs is cri-cal for ongoing success. As Christmas approaches, many of us look forward to some well-deserved relaxa;on, sunshine, and backyard cricket. For some businesses this is a hec;c ;me of year, while for many B2B businesses, it’s just business as usual (unless you’re selling Christmas ham or prawns!). This period is also the perfect ;me to do a half financial year marke;ng strategy, and marke;ng ac;vity calendar check in. Here are some top ;ps for best prac;ce marke;ng management throughout the year. Cadence: You’ve set your marke;ng investment budget for the year, the Marke;ng Assistant has planned out all the ac;vi;es. Job done, right? Wrong! It’s essen;al to be checking in on your marke;ng performance at least once a quarter. This way, you can determine what’s working, what’s not, and whether it’s ;me to pivot on any par;cular ac;vity. For example, if you’re spending a significant amount of money on hos;ng customer events, but hardly anyone’s turning up, and those who do are just there for the free food–why not reinvest that budget towards trade shows where you’re genera;ng many new leads instead? SiSng down once a quarter to review every ac;vity and their associated ROI will put you on the path to inves;ng your marke;ng budget more effec;vely. ROI measures: It’s important to note here that not all marke;ng ROI measures are financial. Different marke;ng tac;cs serve various purposes, so they need different KPIs! Think of marke;ng as a funnel. At the top of the funnel, your goal is to generate as many opportuni;es as possible. If you aim to convert 10% of your leads, you’ll need to start with around 100 opportuni;es.

2. Top-of-funnel investments–like brand awareness is just as important as inves;ng money on obtaining warm leads (mid/bo^om of funnel). This is assuming of course, that not every poten;al customer knows about your brand (which is a safe assump;on unless you’re McDonalds or Coca-Cola). Focussing on top-of-funnel ac;vi;es might not see an immediate financial return, but it will in the long run! Strategy check: Six months in an industry can be a long ;me. What’s changed? Have there been any changes in your target audiences demographics or psychographics (like aStudes, values, or pain points)? Do they have new technologies (such as a popular new app among healthcare professionals)? When was the last ;me you conducted a Customer and Brand Health Survey to uncover what your customers think about you? Are your brand awareness and associa;on measures up to date? Asking yourself all of these ques;ons and more will help guide your strategy. Is it ;me to reassess your product range? Is your product ‘tail’ taking up valuable ;me and resources from your sales and administra;on teams? Is it ;me to do a cull (the 80:20 rule or the ‘Pareto Principle’)? Have you ever looked at your product range from a ‘Quadrant Analysis’ perspec;ve? Doing a simple Sales / Margin report by product and ranking your SKUs can help you sort the ‘Stars’ from the ‘Losers’.

3. What about new compe;tors? New products that are shaking up the industry? Do you seem to see more of any par;cular compe;tor brand lately (a sure sign they’ve increased their marke;ng spend)? Have any compe;tors reposi;oned themselves in the market? Here’s an example of a simple brand posi;oning matrix. What if a new premium American burger brand entered the Australian market, should local chains like Grill’d be worried? Should they revisit their strategy or enhance their local messaging? You betcha! Conclusion: “You’re only as good as the last game you played”. Things change fast, and regularly revisi;ng your marke;ng strategy and tac;cs ensures you’re keeping pace with the compe;;on, and you’re inves;ng your marke;ng dollars as effec;vely as possible. So, before you pick up that well-deserved beer, wine or soi drink this Christmas, do your business a favour and conduct a half yearly check-in. It will set you up to hit the ground running in January! At CR Marke-ng Consul-ng, we specialise in assis-ng small to medium businesses implement effec-ve growth marke-ng strategies. Reach out to us today for a confiden-al conversa-on on how we can support your journey. info@crmarke-ngconsul-ng.au