Marketing for small business Pt 2: Marketing Communications Strategy
By: Brent Nakano
Marketing strategy
Marketing strategy is a somewhat abstract concept with a definition that has been refined over time by academic research. In the academic literature on the topic, Morgan et al. (2019) provides the following insightful definition: “The strategy decisions and actions (what) and strategy-making and realization processes (how) concerning a firm’s desired goals over a future period, and the means through which it intends to achieve them including selecting target markets and customers; identifying required value propositions; and designing and enacting integrated marketing programs to develop, deliver, and communicate the value offerings [1]”. To break this concept down for implementation, it can be helpful to answer the following questions regarding the following elements of marketing strategy:
“A firm’s desired goals over a future time period”
“Strategy-making and realization process (how)”
“The strategy decisions and actions (what)”
“The means through which it intends to achieve them including”:
“A firm’s desired goals over a future time period”
- What are the firm's desired goals?
- In what time period do those goals need to be accomplished?
“Strategy-making and realization process (how)”
- How will strategies be devised to accomplish those goals?
- Who is going to devise the strategies?
“The strategy decisions and actions (what)”
- What are the steps that will be taken to execute the strategy?
“The means through which it intends to achieve them including”:
- What are the target markets/target customers?
- What is the value proposition?
- How will marketing programs develop, deliver, and communicate the value offerings designed and enacted?
Brand Communications
Fundamental Ways to Communicate
Fundamentally humans are limited by the body’s senses and by technology in regards to communication methodology. Therefore the primary strategies can be thought of:
Fundamental communication strategies
Fundamental communication delivery methods
Fundamental communication strategies
- Written communication in the form of words.
- Non-written visual imagery either as a stationary picture like an illustration or photograph, or a moving picture like a video.
- Auditory communication through spoken words or sounds.
- Smell, taste, and touch through product sampling and/or experiential marketing.
Fundamental communication delivery methods
- In-person exchanges provide the most opportunity to engage all five senses.
- Digital exchanges are limited to written and non-written visual imagery and auditory communications.
Communication Strategy
The fundamental goals of a brand are to get the consumers to find out about the product/service and then motivate them to purchase the product. This starts by answering:
- What is being communicated?
- Who is it being communicated to?
- Why is it being communicated?
How to Communicate: Channel Management
Channel management refers to the different methods of interacting with current and potential
customers. The "right" channel mix will be influenced by the findings from the target consumer research.
customers. The "right" channel mix will be influenced by the findings from the target consumer research.
Traditional vs. Digital Marketing and Content Delivery
The lines between traditional media and digital media have become more blurred as traditional media has become more digital. For example, publications like Hawaii Beverage Guide have both digital and print versions of the same magazine with the only difference being reading it on a screen or paper. With that said, most typical communication practices can be thought of as having a mixed media distribution except those incorporating touch, taste, and smell. Generally speaking:
Communication Channel Cost
When advertising/marketing, a Return on Investment should be a central focus. That is, for every dollar spent, more than a dollar should be earned to make advertising worthwhile.
The lines between traditional media and digital media have become more blurred as traditional media has become more digital. For example, publications like Hawaii Beverage Guide have both digital and print versions of the same magazine with the only difference being reading it on a screen or paper. With that said, most typical communication practices can be thought of as having a mixed media distribution except those incorporating touch, taste, and smell. Generally speaking:
- Traditional marketing consists of cold calling, direct physical mail, broadcast marketing like on radio or TV, print marketing in publications, and outdoor advertising like billboards.
- Digital marketing is considered anything to do with the internet. Examples include website/blog content, social media, email newsletters,
Communication Channel Cost
When advertising/marketing, a Return on Investment should be a central focus. That is, for every dollar spent, more than a dollar should be earned to make advertising worthwhile.
- Free Marketing Channels are platforms that do not require payment. This includes the brand’s website and free posting on social media apps like LinkedIn and Q&A platforms like Quora.
- Paid Marketing Channels are platforms that require an access fee. Examples can include paid ads, commercials, and influencer marketing.
Types of Channels and Marketing Technology
“MarTech” Solutions The digital world has increased our ability to communicate, and there have been companies that have taken this to another level by helping to automate some of these tasks through technology solutions.
“MarTech” Solutions The digital world has increased our ability to communicate, and there have been companies that have taken this to another level by helping to automate some of these tasks through technology solutions.
|
Traditional customer communications channels
Messaging and chat support
Email Communication
Social Media Communication Social media management platforms help to organize and automate posting as well as monitor engagement and trends across the various platforms. Apps include SproutSocial, HootSuite, and Meta Business Suite (for Facebook, Instagram, and Threads only). Self-service solutions Enable a customer to help themselves reduces waiting for customer service representatives to be available. Examples include:
|
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems
MarTech solutions that function as enhanced contact lists. These customer databases include individual client profiles, and the ability for customer interactions to be noted and accessed by other members of the sales team. This notation enables a more personal touch as an overall company rather than an individual salesperson and can feature tools that help with customer segmentation, development of targeted marketing campaigns, sales forecasting, delivering customer support, and may even feature a loyalty program. In theory, given a CRM is a digital product with few limits to how many clients can be charted, it can be integrated into a hotel and/or restaurant customer service workflow and can help to remember guest preferences. CRM providers include SalesForce, Zoho, ZenDesk, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and HubSpot. For more insight
|
Brand Asset Inventory, Analysis, Creation, and Modification
Comprehensive Brand Assets for Internal and Promotional Usage
The development of a written comprehensive brand story helps to create cohesive messaging. This messaging can be used for both internal training of employees and external promotion with the goal of saving time from repeating the same story by preemptively answering frequently asked questions. Additionally, it can provide writers a document to copy, paste, and pull quotes from, and then if time allows for an interview, questions specific to the readership can be asked.
Media Kits and Brand Book/Brand Guide/Brand Guidelines
There are not clear delineations between a Media Kits and a Brand Books, however media kits traditionally contain press releases whereas brand books do not. Generally, the delineation is not hugely relevant as having both are ideal, and the content is typically accessed in the same place
There are not clear delineations between a Media Kits and a Brand Books, however media kits traditionally contain press releases whereas brand books do not. Generally, the delineation is not hugely relevant as having both are ideal, and the content is typically accessed in the same place
|
Brand and product story
A detailed story can be used to create a cohesive and comprehensive brand narrative that can be cut into smaller stories, including press releases, or that can be used as a script to be developed into presentation materials or videos. Elements of the brand story include: Company introduction Explain what the company does, what it offers, and what differentiates it from competitors, and a history of the company and tells its story and mission. As this is an introduction ~400 words is sufficient. Company Overview Create a cohesive document containing each of the following elements.
eBooks Essentially long-form blogs, eBooks help customers to better understand the problem and potential solutions. They also help the media to quickly gain background on a problem, contextualize the issue, and understand the brand's solution. |
Press Releases and Media Alerts
The brand and product story can be cut into smaller pieces to be sent out as press releases. These do not have to be written or sent by a PR firm and instead can be written by the brand and sent to members of the media. As a publication solicited by PR agencies, we prefer to hear directly from brands as they can directly answer our questions about their product instead of having a PR firm acting as a call forwarding service. We also prefer industry-specific and technical terminology which we can then interpret to our readership (which is the job of a journalist) rather than unsubstantiated rhetoric like “best” and “premium quality”. Sample articles and sample interviews The goal of a sample interview is to provide quotes about frequently asked questions which the media can use in articles. This saves the interviewee from repeatedly answering the same question. These quotes can also be used to create the Company Details document. News coverage Establish the brand as credible and newsworthy to increasingly larger media companies by re-posting news coverage. On the brand website, this can be done by listing the media outlet, story headline, introduction or summary, and date of publication. For online media kits, provide a brief description and link to the full article. Podcasts Podcasts can help to develop the brand as an authority in an industry by sharing the brand’s expertise on a specific topic or inviting and interviewing other expert guests. This can function as an audio blog. Branded Templates To provide quick consistency for brand materials, templates are useful for recurring items like:
Social media guidelines Social media guidelines like tone can be included in the brand book, however, given the complexity of setting tone, and posting schedules, a completely different document may be more appropriate. |
For more insight into brand guidelines and brand assets
Adobe. (n.d.). Create a brand style guide for your business. Adobe. Retrieved August 7, 2023, from https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/business/teams/resources/how-to/brand-guide.html
Abbamonte, K. (2022, October 28). What Are Brand Guidelines and How To Create a Style Guide (2023). Shopify. Retrieved August 27, 2023, from https://www.shopify.com/blog/brand-guidelines
Stribley, M. (n.d.). 50 of the best brand style guides to inspire you. Canva. Retrieved August 7, 2023, from https://www.canva.com/learn/50-meticulous-style-guides-every-startup-see-launching/
Forsey, C. (2022, March 3). What is a Media Kit — and How to Make One [+ Press Kit Examples]. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved August 7, 2023, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/media-kit-examples
Adobe. (n.d.). Create a brand style guide for your business. Adobe. Retrieved August 7, 2023, from https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/business/teams/resources/how-to/brand-guide.html
Abbamonte, K. (2022, October 28). What Are Brand Guidelines and How To Create a Style Guide (2023). Shopify. Retrieved August 27, 2023, from https://www.shopify.com/blog/brand-guidelines
Stribley, M. (n.d.). 50 of the best brand style guides to inspire you. Canva. Retrieved August 7, 2023, from https://www.canva.com/learn/50-meticulous-style-guides-every-startup-see-launching/
Forsey, C. (2022, March 3). What is a Media Kit — and How to Make One [+ Press Kit Examples]. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved August 7, 2023, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/media-kit-examples
Brand library/ Asset library/ Digital Asset Library
The central repository for a brand's assets as part of a wider digital asset management (DAM) system. These systems can vary from:
The central repository for a brand's assets as part of a wider digital asset management (DAM) system. These systems can vary from:
- Cloud storage like Google Drive, Box, and Dropbox are common solutions for small businesses.
- Dedicated DAM systems like those from Bynder (bynder.com) and Adobe Experience Manager provide more robust and comprehensive solutions.
- Password-locked page to grant members of the media access to brand assets that they can use for their publication materials.
Brand Style Guide
Primarily relating to visual style, this document provides guidelines and assets for a cohesive visual aesthetic based on the target customer/buyer personas.
Logo
Provide a primary logo with the company name as a vector (.svg), PNG with a transparent background, and JPG. Also provide a secondary logo for situations when the full logo will not fit using the same file formats. For logo consistency, the style guide should also specify the proportions and alignment of the logo’s text elements, and a list of design do’s and don’ts in regards to logo treatments.
Color palette
Provide primary and secondary colors with a hex code for each color. The hex code allows for consistency regardless of color space (CMYK vs. RGB). For development, brands in the industry can be referenced to find hues that are typical and unique colors can then be chosen. Another approach is to use the brand logo as a reference for visual style including color palette and typography.
Typography
Provide at least two fonts, one for headlines and display copy and a different one for body copy. Specify if the font is for web or print as the available fonts differ. Explain the use cases for each font as well as the desired size, spacing, and weight. For more insight into developing brand typography: Houraghan, S. (2020, April 20). Typography in Branding. Iconic Fox. Retrieved August 27, 2023, from
https://iconicfox.com.au/typography-in-branding-infographic
Photos and illustrations like infographics and memes
Create a set of photos and illustrations like infographics and memes for internal promotional campaigns like those on social media and external promotional campaigns like assisting the members of the media with images for an article. The goal is to establish a brand aesthetic and visual personality. Memes on social media can be used as a way to build brand personality. Also describe the brand’s photographic style or aesthetic and the brand’s usage permissions.
Primarily relating to visual style, this document provides guidelines and assets for a cohesive visual aesthetic based on the target customer/buyer personas.
Logo
Provide a primary logo with the company name as a vector (.svg), PNG with a transparent background, and JPG. Also provide a secondary logo for situations when the full logo will not fit using the same file formats. For logo consistency, the style guide should also specify the proportions and alignment of the logo’s text elements, and a list of design do’s and don’ts in regards to logo treatments.
Color palette
Provide primary and secondary colors with a hex code for each color. The hex code allows for consistency regardless of color space (CMYK vs. RGB). For development, brands in the industry can be referenced to find hues that are typical and unique colors can then be chosen. Another approach is to use the brand logo as a reference for visual style including color palette and typography.
Typography
Provide at least two fonts, one for headlines and display copy and a different one for body copy. Specify if the font is for web or print as the available fonts differ. Explain the use cases for each font as well as the desired size, spacing, and weight. For more insight into developing brand typography: Houraghan, S. (2020, April 20). Typography in Branding. Iconic Fox. Retrieved August 27, 2023, from
https://iconicfox.com.au/typography-in-branding-infographic
Photos and illustrations like infographics and memes
Create a set of photos and illustrations like infographics and memes for internal promotional campaigns like those on social media and external promotional campaigns like assisting the members of the media with images for an article. The goal is to establish a brand aesthetic and visual personality. Memes on social media can be used as a way to build brand personality. Also describe the brand’s photographic style or aesthetic and the brand’s usage permissions.
Videos
Moving pictures with sound create a medium that is both visual and auditory making for a dynamic way to engage an audience. The content can mirror or supplement written or static image content like that of white papers or brand stories. The benefit of having both written and video content is that people learn in different ways. An effective workflow can be to script a video, use the script as the written portion, and the audio component as a podcast. Hubspot has an insightful post on developing video content: Collins, A., & Conley, M. (2022, May 24). The Ultimate Guide to Video Marketing. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved August 27, 2023, from http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/video-marketing
Brand personality/persona guidelines
Guidance on brand personality through explaining the brand persona, its tone of voice, and how it applies to writing content, helps anyone writing on behalf of the brand craft a more cohesive story. A word bank of adjectives may also be helpful. For more on this concept read Shopify’s blog post on the topic: Collins, A., & Essenpreis, K. (2022, March 9). What Brand Voice Is and How to Create Yours (2023). Shopify. Retrieved August 7, 2023, from https://www.shopify.com/blog/brand-voice
Moving pictures with sound create a medium that is both visual and auditory making for a dynamic way to engage an audience. The content can mirror or supplement written or static image content like that of white papers or brand stories. The benefit of having both written and video content is that people learn in different ways. An effective workflow can be to script a video, use the script as the written portion, and the audio component as a podcast. Hubspot has an insightful post on developing video content: Collins, A., & Conley, M. (2022, May 24). The Ultimate Guide to Video Marketing. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved August 27, 2023, from http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/video-marketing
Brand personality/persona guidelines
Guidance on brand personality through explaining the brand persona, its tone of voice, and how it applies to writing content, helps anyone writing on behalf of the brand craft a more cohesive story. A word bank of adjectives may also be helpful. For more on this concept read Shopify’s blog post on the topic: Collins, A., & Essenpreis, K. (2022, March 9). What Brand Voice Is and How to Create Yours (2023). Shopify. Retrieved August 7, 2023, from https://www.shopify.com/blog/brand-voice
Comprehensive Consumer Facing Assets
|
Website
A typical brand’s product/service website should serve as the cohesive aggregator for all the publicly-facing assets a brand creates. This includes brand stories, product stories, imagery, and videos. To analyze the effectiveness of the website as a comprehensive consumer-facing asset, analytics to look at include:
Presentation Materials Inventory
|
Social Media
As part of a content marketing strategy, social media assets can be developed by using comprehensive documents and splitting them into bite-size pieces. Then a cohesive narrative is creative by posting in a way that links the pieces together in a series/campaign. Per social media account, the assessment includes: Posting
Return on Investment Metrics
For more insight into social media metrics, social media content management systems Hootsuite and Sprout Social have good summaries on the topic: |
Communications Plan
The communications plan consists of actionable steps that get target consumers to find out about the product and get them to want to buy the product. This plan should address:
- How to communicate with the potential customer.
- Where to communicate with the potential customer.
- When to communicate with the potential customer.
When and Where to Communicate: Brand Activation during the Customer Journey around the Marketing Flywheel (formerly Marketing Funnel)
|
Brand Activation
“Brand Activation” is the concept of developing a brand’s image and driving specific consumer action through connection and interaction on a personal level. As Rosen and Minsky (2011) put it: “Activation is the shift from building brands to ‘activating’, from simply projecting what a brand is to optimizing what a brand does to move people closer to a transaction. [2]” This differs from traditional marketing which has concentrated on the positioning of a brand relative to its competitors. Rosen and Minsky suggest the following stages of brand activation: Utilize new and existing data to identify key points along the target audience’s customer journey that represent the greatest opportunity to build a business. Deepen insights into the customer’s motivations at those points to identify opportunities at “inflection points” (points where progress typically stalls or accelerates) to create value that engages customers and inspires behavioral change. For example, retailers can increase time spent in-store (physically or digitally) as greater time generally results in greater purchase volume. Deploy the appropriate activation tools to deliver value in a way uniquely associated with your brand. The goal of creating a uniquely positive consumer experience that memorably conveys a strong sense of the brand and the role it can play in the consumer’s life is a major way to activate a brand because it does more than merely define the brand. In the alcoholic beverage industry, this unique experience is what has given rise to the various promotional events by brand ambassador teams referred to as “brand activations”. Create opportunities to measure the results. |
Marketing Flywheel
For almost a century, the “marketing funnel” was a popular framework to look at how customers interacted with a company. The large top represents the many people who know about the brand, the smaller middle represents the many people who interacted with the brand, and the smallest segment at the bottom represents the people who purchased the product. During the past decade, however, a new framework called the Marketing Flywheel has been developed. Coined by Jim Collins in the book “Good to Great and championed by HubSpot co-founder, and former CEO Brian Halligan, the flywheel model more wholistically captures the modern sales and marketing process [3]: Flywheel vs. Marketing Funnel
|
|
Forces influencing the marketing funnel
Force The more force you apply to a flywheel, the more places on it where you add force, the faster it spins. Friction The less friction applied the flywheel spins. In this case, reducing the friction of purchasing for the customer. In the marketing funnel model, the marketing and sales process was a series of individual actions by different parts of the business which resulted in customers being handed from one division like sales to another like customer service. This can result in an unpleasant customer experience. The flywheel model changes the role of each team to be better versed in being able to assist customers with the process that occurs before and after their designated specialty thereby making sure every team is involved in customer service and building customer loyalty. This can be aided with the automation of repeatable tasks which can be mechanical, resetting goals to bridge teams and align goals, and restructuring teams so that teams are not overly specialized unless they absolutely must be. 
|
Phases of the Marketing Flywheel
The attract phase Visitors are attracted with useful content thereby eliminating barriers to learning about the company. The engage phase Make it easy for customers to shop and make purchases by enabling buyers to engage with you on their preferred timeline and channels. •Focus on opening relationships, not just closing deals. •Some forces include website and email personalization, database segmentation, marketing automation, lead nurturing, multichannel communication (chat, phone, messaging, email), sales automation, lead scoring, and try-before-you-buy programs. The delight phase Customers are helped, supported, and empowered to reach their goals as the customer’s success helps with retention. Forces that can be leveraged include self-service (Knowledge base, chatbot), proactive customer service, multichannel availability (chat, messaging, phone, email), ticketing systems, automated onboarding, customer feedback surveys, and loyalty programs. To learn more about the marketing flywheel •www.hubspot.com/flywheel •blog.hubspot.com/marketing/our-flywheel |
The Customer Journey Map
A “customer journey map” is a visualization of how a customer interacts with a specific brand. In creating a customer journey map, a brand uses the framework of the Marketing Flywheel and then lists brand-specific interactions that a customer does or should experience. Gene Cornfield of the consulting firm Accenture Song, in a Harvard Business Review article, noted that a customer journey map should provide for a flexible outcome. That is, a potential customer may not end up purchasing your product/service during that particular journey, but the journey can build brand trust that creates a sale during a future journey [4]. Brand activation during the customer journey looks different based on where a customer may be in their journey.
1. Awareness
Customer goals
A problem (pain point) has been identified and the customer begins researching to figure out what to do. At this stage, they may need to know if they want or need a product or service to solve the problem.
Brand Goals
Create brand awareness, and trust by assisting customers with diagnosing a problem and offering potential solutions. Sales are not pushed at this point in the process. In sales speak, this is the lead-generation phase.
Marketing Strategies
Direct marketing
Direct marketing involves sending promotional marketing materials directly to consumers. Examples include cold calling, direct physical mail, and direct email.
Customer goals
A problem (pain point) has been identified and the customer begins researching to figure out what to do. At this stage, they may need to know if they want or need a product or service to solve the problem.
Brand Goals
Create brand awareness, and trust by assisting customers with diagnosing a problem and offering potential solutions. Sales are not pushed at this point in the process. In sales speak, this is the lead-generation phase.
Marketing Strategies
Direct marketing
Direct marketing involves sending promotional marketing materials directly to consumers. Examples include cold calling, direct physical mail, and direct email.
|
Database marketing
Database marketing leverages contact databases. Beyond a database of people who have reached out to a brand, databases of people in a particular demographic may be obtained from public records or companies specializing in this data collection. These customers may not be familiar with the company allowing the company to use the acquired database for direct marketing. CRMs can be used to help tailor messages to specific consumers if enough information is known about a potential customer. Commerce marketing Commerce marketing is product and brand communications at the point of sale.
These stores can be e-commerce, m-commerce (exclusively mobile device), and social commerce (purchases via social media platforms).
Content marketing The development of brand content that helps current and prospective customers diagnose and solve problems/pain points related to the product/service can be used to introduce people to a brand and establish credibility. The goal is to influences the target audience in a way that drives quantifiable key performance indicators (KPIs) like engagement. Examples of content to be developed as part of content marketing include: Case Studies/customer success stories Potential customers can better visualize the customer journey through a real scenario. Case studies are helpful because they highlight 1) The customer's challenge 2) How the product addressed the challenge 3) The quantitative and/or qualitative results. For more insight, read Hubspot’s blog Becker, B. (2023, January 12). How to Write a Case Study: Bookmarkable Guide & Template. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved August 28, 2023, from https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33282/The-Ultimate-Guide-to-Creating-Compelling-Case-Studies.aspx |
ROI Reports
Products or services sold to businesses can serve as case studies/testimonials for potential customers. These can be obtained from customer surveys or customer data analysis. Testimonials, Reviews, and User-generated Content This broad category of content includes straightforward testimonials/product reviews as been made commonplace by Amazon and Yelp then elaborated on social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. The effectiveness of this strategy is that it engages customers and provides real-world, unpaid case studies/testimonials. Ways to promote this interaction include competitions where customers enter to win by displaying the product or using a designated social media hashtag. White Papers/ How-to Guides/Academies/Seminars in the form of:
Carmicheal, K. (2019, September 19). The 12 Types of Content Marketing in a Marketer's Arsenal. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved August 8, 2023, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/content-marketing-types |
Experiential marketing
In-person and virtual events can create a personal or emotional connection to the target audience and reinforce the brand’s essence. For example:
•Group Product demonstrations in person or as a live or recorded webinar on digital platform like YouTube, Instagram Facebook, or Zoom. These videos can also be embedded on the brand’s website.
•Community-based marketing consists of events in which a brand supports a community cause that aligns with the brand’s values. This can build awareness and emotional connection between the brand and the target audience due to the shared values.
•Hosting or sponsoring events with an entertainment or celebrity component.
•Guerilla marketing uses unconventional methods that evoke surprise, wonder, or shock to draw attention to the brand. While typically executed in person, there are digital guerilla marketing tactics that leverage other brand's platforms. Hubspot’s blog post on the topic provides great examples: Zantal, A. (2021, August 17). What Is Guerrilla Marketing? 11 Examples to Inspire Your Brand. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved August 8, 2023, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/guerilla-marketing-examples
Relationship Marketing
Target already existing customers through customer retention, satisfaction, and lifetime customer value as part of a larger customer relationship management strategy. An extension of “networking”, which is a introductions of two strangers by a mutual acquaintance thereby establishing trust. For example:
•Referral marketing is when customers share your content or promote your service via in-person word-of-mouth or on social media. This can be enhanced through a referral or loyalty program.
•“Networking” via professional organizations, events like trade shows, and volunteering for non-profit organizations where the organization acts as the conduit.
Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is when a person who does not know about the brand is introduced by a person who is familiar with the brand. Examples include:
•Word-of-mouth promotion.
•Celebrity endorsements.
•Social media influencer marketing is currently trending on social media. However, implementation can be challenging because “reach” is also influenced by ever-changing social media algorithms, and its measurement regarding effectiveness can be difficult.
•Networking: Connecting with different people through social (including social media) settings.
•Affiliate/Partner Marketing: Using an affiliate’s already established marketing channels to get your product/service to your audience.
Promotion marketing
Promotion marketing includes sampling, price discounting, and sweepstakes to engage customers. This can occur in conjunction with commerce marketing at the point of sale or as part of experiential marketing like at events.
In-person and virtual events can create a personal or emotional connection to the target audience and reinforce the brand’s essence. For example:
•Group Product demonstrations in person or as a live or recorded webinar on digital platform like YouTube, Instagram Facebook, or Zoom. These videos can also be embedded on the brand’s website.
•Community-based marketing consists of events in which a brand supports a community cause that aligns with the brand’s values. This can build awareness and emotional connection between the brand and the target audience due to the shared values.
•Hosting or sponsoring events with an entertainment or celebrity component.
•Guerilla marketing uses unconventional methods that evoke surprise, wonder, or shock to draw attention to the brand. While typically executed in person, there are digital guerilla marketing tactics that leverage other brand's platforms. Hubspot’s blog post on the topic provides great examples: Zantal, A. (2021, August 17). What Is Guerrilla Marketing? 11 Examples to Inspire Your Brand. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved August 8, 2023, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/guerilla-marketing-examples
Relationship Marketing
Target already existing customers through customer retention, satisfaction, and lifetime customer value as part of a larger customer relationship management strategy. An extension of “networking”, which is a introductions of two strangers by a mutual acquaintance thereby establishing trust. For example:
•Referral marketing is when customers share your content or promote your service via in-person word-of-mouth or on social media. This can be enhanced through a referral or loyalty program.
•“Networking” via professional organizations, events like trade shows, and volunteering for non-profit organizations where the organization acts as the conduit.
Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is when a person who does not know about the brand is introduced by a person who is familiar with the brand. Examples include:
•Word-of-mouth promotion.
•Celebrity endorsements.
•Social media influencer marketing is currently trending on social media. However, implementation can be challenging because “reach” is also influenced by ever-changing social media algorithms, and its measurement regarding effectiveness can be difficult.
•Networking: Connecting with different people through social (including social media) settings.
•Affiliate/Partner Marketing: Using an affiliate’s already established marketing channels to get your product/service to your audience.
Promotion marketing
Promotion marketing includes sampling, price discounting, and sweepstakes to engage customers. This can occur in conjunction with commerce marketing at the point of sale or as part of experiential marketing like at events.
2. Consideration Stage
Customer Goals
Customers via research realize that a product or service is needed to solve their problem (relieve their pain point). At this point, they begin to compare brands and their offerings.
Brand Goals
Brand awareness is ideally converted into the development of some sort of relationship. This may come in the form of a social media follow or a newsletter subscription. This conversion is done by assisting customers in comparing solutions and highlighting the product or service’s merits to persuade the customer toward a purchasing decision. During this time a brand may also want to focus on customers with the highest potential for purchasing the product. These people are known as “qualifying leads”. This can be done by assessing customer needs and position to understand if a transaction makes economic/business sense. One indicator is if a prospect requests additional information on the initial offer. The salesperson then must be able to convey the brand’s exclusive selling proposition and its relative market position with the least friction.
Marketing Strategies
The consideration stage significantly overlaps with the Awareness phase because thinking about a problem and then immediately trying to find a solution is not uncommon. For the identification of a process, however, delineation is useful. For this reason, the aforementioned strategies apply with the following modifications.
Experiential marketing
Experiential marketing like in-person and digital product demonstrations can help a consumer decide if the product/service can work for them. This can be coupled with Influencer marketing through product reviews as is the technique used on YouTube.
Content marketing
•Targeted content like eNewsletters via email containing targeted insight like product comparison guides, product-focused white papers, customer success stories, and case studies.
•Non-targeted content like the brand’s website, specific product pages, and the brand blog.
Customer Goals
Customers via research realize that a product or service is needed to solve their problem (relieve their pain point). At this point, they begin to compare brands and their offerings.
Brand Goals
Brand awareness is ideally converted into the development of some sort of relationship. This may come in the form of a social media follow or a newsletter subscription. This conversion is done by assisting customers in comparing solutions and highlighting the product or service’s merits to persuade the customer toward a purchasing decision. During this time a brand may also want to focus on customers with the highest potential for purchasing the product. These people are known as “qualifying leads”. This can be done by assessing customer needs and position to understand if a transaction makes economic/business sense. One indicator is if a prospect requests additional information on the initial offer. The salesperson then must be able to convey the brand’s exclusive selling proposition and its relative market position with the least friction.
Marketing Strategies
The consideration stage significantly overlaps with the Awareness phase because thinking about a problem and then immediately trying to find a solution is not uncommon. For the identification of a process, however, delineation is useful. For this reason, the aforementioned strategies apply with the following modifications.
Experiential marketing
Experiential marketing like in-person and digital product demonstrations can help a consumer decide if the product/service can work for them. This can be coupled with Influencer marketing through product reviews as is the technique used on YouTube.
Content marketing
•Targeted content like eNewsletters via email containing targeted insight like product comparison guides, product-focused white papers, customer success stories, and case studies.
•Non-targeted content like the brand’s website, specific product pages, and the brand blog.
3. Decision
Customer Goals
The decision maker then evaluates the final offers and must be convinced the seller can deliver on the promises if a deal is to be concluded.
Brand Goals
Create a seamless purchasing process to make buying as easy and simple as possible. No educational or product content is necessary at this stage. Rather, emphasise helping customers to make the purchase by defining the offer and financial deal in the clearest, most beneficial terms and in a way that does not require the purchaser to hunt for answers. For example, if necessary, have all contractual paperwork on-hand at the time of sale thereby reducing the need for the customer to ask what is included in the deal terms.
Marketing Strategies
Promotion marketing
Promotion marketing at this juncture can be useful if both competitors are making similar products, then lowering the price can provide a customer additional value. An example of a potential customer being at multiple stages in the customer journey includes going grocery shopping finding a new product due to a sale, and purchasing the product because of that sale.
Customer Goals
The decision maker then evaluates the final offers and must be convinced the seller can deliver on the promises if a deal is to be concluded.
Brand Goals
Create a seamless purchasing process to make buying as easy and simple as possible. No educational or product content is necessary at this stage. Rather, emphasise helping customers to make the purchase by defining the offer and financial deal in the clearest, most beneficial terms and in a way that does not require the purchaser to hunt for answers. For example, if necessary, have all contractual paperwork on-hand at the time of sale thereby reducing the need for the customer to ask what is included in the deal terms.
Marketing Strategies
Promotion marketing
Promotion marketing at this juncture can be useful if both competitors are making similar products, then lowering the price can provide a customer additional value. An example of a potential customer being at multiple stages in the customer journey includes going grocery shopping finding a new product due to a sale, and purchasing the product because of that sale.
SWOT Analysis
To better understand the various companies within an industry, a SWOT analysis takes insight from the PESTLE analysis and Porter's 5 Forces and uses this to create a more detailed analysis of respected companies already in the marketplace. The more detailed the analysis, the more useful it will be in finding patterns in sales and operations strategies that can help to refine your own marketing and business strategy. Additionally this should occur concurrent with the Market Analysis and Brand Analysis as it will help to refine concepts and patterns. This means that a draft should be performed before the brand analysis and then it should be revised after the brand analysis. We also include the main factors which influence adoption of an innovation as noted in Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point. Which are
To better understand the various companies within an industry, a SWOT analysis takes insight from the PESTLE analysis and Porter's 5 Forces and uses this to create a more detailed analysis of respected companies already in the marketplace. The more detailed the analysis, the more useful it will be in finding patterns in sales and operations strategies that can help to refine your own marketing and business strategy. Additionally this should occur concurrent with the Market Analysis and Brand Analysis as it will help to refine concepts and patterns. This means that a draft should be performed before the brand analysis and then it should be revised after the brand analysis. We also include the main factors which influence adoption of an innovation as noted in Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point. Which are
- Relative Advantage: The degree to which a proposed idea is viewed as innovation relative to the product it replaces.
- Compatibility: The innovation’s alignment with the values, experiences, and needs of the potential adopters.
- Complexity: The ease of use/understanding of the innovation.
- Testability: The extent to which the idea can be tested/proven to be innovative before being adopted.
- Observability: The extent to which results can be observed as being innovative.
4. Retention Stage
Customer Goals
Having purchased a solution, the customer attempts to implement it thereby solving their problem. The customer also uses the experience to influence future decisions of re-purchasing the product, re-purchasing from the retailer, or finding another solution.
Brand Goals
Customer satisfaction leads to increased/repeat sales and minimizes customer churn/turnover. A brand’s goal is to also balance customer service with the cost of the good. Generally, as cost rises, customer service is often expected to increase. This can simply be thought of as customer service being x% of the overall cost, and therefore if cost increases the dollar expenditure on customer service also increases.
Marketing Strategies
Customer Service is proactive or reactive assistance/advice provided to the customer (or potential customers) by a company. This initially starts with onboarding which consists of welcoming new customers to the business, making sure they are satisfied with their purchase, and helping them to use it. The main approaches to customer service that should be used are:
Reactive support
When a customer contacts a business with a question and the business responds. Relationship management accessible through multiple channels is the primary approach.
Proactive engagement
Anticipation of potential customer questions and issues then addressing them before the customer needs to reach out and satisfaction decreases. This can be done through
Customer Goals
Having purchased a solution, the customer attempts to implement it thereby solving their problem. The customer also uses the experience to influence future decisions of re-purchasing the product, re-purchasing from the retailer, or finding another solution.
Brand Goals
Customer satisfaction leads to increased/repeat sales and minimizes customer churn/turnover. A brand’s goal is to also balance customer service with the cost of the good. Generally, as cost rises, customer service is often expected to increase. This can simply be thought of as customer service being x% of the overall cost, and therefore if cost increases the dollar expenditure on customer service also increases.
Marketing Strategies
Customer Service is proactive or reactive assistance/advice provided to the customer (or potential customers) by a company. This initially starts with onboarding which consists of welcoming new customers to the business, making sure they are satisfied with their purchase, and helping them to use it. The main approaches to customer service that should be used are:
Reactive support
When a customer contacts a business with a question and the business responds. Relationship management accessible through multiple channels is the primary approach.
Proactive engagement
Anticipation of potential customer questions and issues then addressing them before the customer needs to reach out and satisfaction decreases. This can be done through
- Content Marketing like FAQs pages, knowledge bases, or easily accessible customer service agents.
- Experiential marketing is like offering classes on how to use the product. This is exemplified by Apple’s free classes at the Apple store which teach customers how to use the products primarily after purchase.
5. Loyalty/Advocacy Stage
Customer Goals
Customers actively promote a company to family, friends, and colleagues.
Brand Goals
Solve customer's pain points and provide an end-to-end customer experience that compels customers to promote the brand.
Marketing Strategies
Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing in the form of word-of-mouth promotion by customers is key at this stage. This can be in person or from a customer’s social media account. In the beverage alcohol industry, this can also be in the form of a customer sharing the beverage with someone else, which is also a form of experiential marketing.
Content marketing
Create easy ways to share the brand with others via a referral program, and customer loyalty benefits. To find if customers have reached the loyalty stage, a customer “Net Promoter Score survey” which asks "On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend us to a friend?" can be used.
Promotion marketing
Promotion marketing can be leveraged by offering discounts or loyalty cards for repeat customers. The challenge of a loyalty program it to not give away too much to those who might already use your service, but provide just enough so that they continue to use the service.
For more insight into designing a customer journey
Agius, A. (2023, May 4). How to Create an Effective Customer Journey Map. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved August 21, 2023, from https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-journey-map
Cornfield, G. (2021, May 6). Designing Customer Journeys for the Post-Pandemic World. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved August 21, 2023, from hbr.org/2021/05/designing-customer-journeys-for-the-post-pandemic-world
Association of National Advertisers. (n.d.). Brand Activation | ANA. Association of National Advertisers. Retrieved August 8, 2023, from www.ana.net/brand-activation
Customer Goals
Customers actively promote a company to family, friends, and colleagues.
Brand Goals
Solve customer's pain points and provide an end-to-end customer experience that compels customers to promote the brand.
Marketing Strategies
Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing in the form of word-of-mouth promotion by customers is key at this stage. This can be in person or from a customer’s social media account. In the beverage alcohol industry, this can also be in the form of a customer sharing the beverage with someone else, which is also a form of experiential marketing.
Content marketing
Create easy ways to share the brand with others via a referral program, and customer loyalty benefits. To find if customers have reached the loyalty stage, a customer “Net Promoter Score survey” which asks "On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend us to a friend?" can be used.
Promotion marketing
Promotion marketing can be leveraged by offering discounts or loyalty cards for repeat customers. The challenge of a loyalty program it to not give away too much to those who might already use your service, but provide just enough so that they continue to use the service.
For more insight into designing a customer journey
Agius, A. (2023, May 4). How to Create an Effective Customer Journey Map. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved August 21, 2023, from https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-journey-map
Cornfield, G. (2021, May 6). Designing Customer Journeys for the Post-Pandemic World. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved August 21, 2023, from hbr.org/2021/05/designing-customer-journeys-for-the-post-pandemic-world
Association of National Advertisers. (n.d.). Brand Activation | ANA. Association of National Advertisers. Retrieved August 8, 2023, from www.ana.net/brand-activation
Channel Partner Strategy
Channel Partner Strategy (Channel Sales Strategy/Channel Sales) leverage third-party firms that may have incentive to help sell a brand's product because the firms add value to each other’s selling process. Channel partnerships include:
Resellers who take possession of the goods being sold
Wholesalers obtain large quantities of products from producers, store them, and break them down into cases and other smaller units more convenient for retailers to buy, a process called “breaking bulk.”
Distributors/Merchant Wholesalers/Dealers take title to the goods but do not purchase the product from the producer. The distributor then warehouses the product and delivers it to the purchaser upon sale; however, the purchaser is typically not the end consumer. Full-service wholesalers perform a broad range of services for their customers, such as stocking inventories, operating warehouses, supplying credit to buyers, employing salespeople to assist customers, and delivering goods to customers.
Retailers buy products from wholesalers, agents, or distributors and then sell them to consumers. You are familiar with many of these types of retailers because you have purchased products from them.
Value Added Resellers (VARs): Partners that use your product, add to it, and then sell the product.
Sellers who do not take title or possession of the product
Brokers or agents negotiate sales contracts for producers without taking title or purchasing the products being sold. They are generally paid a commission and are assigned different geographical territories by the producers with whom they work. Real estate agents for example.
Affiliate partners assist in the promotion of a product and receive a commission as part of the sale. This is a popular e-commerce strategy used on social media, where an influencer will provide affiliate links.
Indirect sales partners
For more insight into channel partners
University of Minnesota. (2015, October 27). Principles of Marketing. Publishing Services. Retrieved August 21, 2023, from https://open.lib.umn.edu/principlesmarketing/chapter/8-1-marketing-channels-and-channel-partners/
Channel Partner Strategy (Channel Sales Strategy/Channel Sales) leverage third-party firms that may have incentive to help sell a brand's product because the firms add value to each other’s selling process. Channel partnerships include:
Resellers who take possession of the goods being sold
Wholesalers obtain large quantities of products from producers, store them, and break them down into cases and other smaller units more convenient for retailers to buy, a process called “breaking bulk.”
Distributors/Merchant Wholesalers/Dealers take title to the goods but do not purchase the product from the producer. The distributor then warehouses the product and delivers it to the purchaser upon sale; however, the purchaser is typically not the end consumer. Full-service wholesalers perform a broad range of services for their customers, such as stocking inventories, operating warehouses, supplying credit to buyers, employing salespeople to assist customers, and delivering goods to customers.
Retailers buy products from wholesalers, agents, or distributors and then sell them to consumers. You are familiar with many of these types of retailers because you have purchased products from them.
Value Added Resellers (VARs): Partners that use your product, add to it, and then sell the product.
Sellers who do not take title or possession of the product
Brokers or agents negotiate sales contracts for producers without taking title or purchasing the products being sold. They are generally paid a commission and are assigned different geographical territories by the producers with whom they work. Real estate agents for example.
Affiliate partners assist in the promotion of a product and receive a commission as part of the sale. This is a popular e-commerce strategy used on social media, where an influencer will provide affiliate links.
Indirect sales partners
- Brands with complimentary products like cocktail mixers complement a spirits brand.
- Brands with products that may be purchased in sequence like building from sweeter to more dry wine, firms with complimentary products/services.
For more insight into channel partners
University of Minnesota. (2015, October 27). Principles of Marketing. Publishing Services. Retrieved August 21, 2023, from https://open.lib.umn.edu/principlesmarketing/chapter/8-1-marketing-channels-and-channel-partners/
Training and Sales Resources
Sales Training Sessions/Presentations: Continuing education is especially important for companies that sell regularly updated product lines, be it due to new products or changes to already existing products. Development of training materials and training sessions should educate the sales team about the new features, their use case, how it positions the product relative to the market, and the intended target audience and corresponding buyer personas.
Sales Knowledge Quizzes
Sales Knowledge Quizzes can be used to test the effectiveness of the sales training and to gain insight into the sales team’s current level of knowledge. This can then be used to better develop a training system.
"How to Sell" Pages
"How to Sell" Pages, with access to an internal wiki or server, can be created to provide comprehensive resources for the sales team that includes all the information needed to effectively sell a particular product/service. This can include problems/challenges/needs the product addresses, questions salespeople can ask to determine if a prospect is a good fit, how the product works, the features it includes, the buyer personas, use cases, product images, competitive positioning tips, links to the product's public-facing web-page, training decks, and overview videos.
Product Digest Emails
Product Digest Emails are internal marketing insights that share news and information about new product features and sales enablement content and resources to the sales team. These emails should provide important new information salespeople and marketers should know about products as well as links to additional resources, like the "how to sell" pages we just talked about. And you don't have to reserve these sends just for your company's salespeople and marketers.
Sales Knowledge Quizzes
Sales Knowledge Quizzes can be used to test the effectiveness of the sales training and to gain insight into the sales team’s current level of knowledge. This can then be used to better develop a training system.
"How to Sell" Pages
"How to Sell" Pages, with access to an internal wiki or server, can be created to provide comprehensive resources for the sales team that includes all the information needed to effectively sell a particular product/service. This can include problems/challenges/needs the product addresses, questions salespeople can ask to determine if a prospect is a good fit, how the product works, the features it includes, the buyer personas, use cases, product images, competitive positioning tips, links to the product's public-facing web-page, training decks, and overview videos.
Product Digest Emails
Product Digest Emails are internal marketing insights that share news and information about new product features and sales enablement content and resources to the sales team. These emails should provide important new information salespeople and marketers should know about products as well as links to additional resources, like the "how to sell" pages we just talked about. And you don't have to reserve these sends just for your company's salespeople and marketers.
Setting metrics to monitor performance
Metrics are used to measure the success of a strategy. Benchmarking is an analysis that compares a business to its competitors. For digital marketing in particular, statistical insight which can help to create an understanding of effectiveness is easier and cheaper to obtain than other sources.
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) = Cost per dollar of sales expense Closing/ conversion rate Length of the sales cycle
Benchmarking analysis
Product Awareness Surveys are a way to gauge what your audience thinks you sell and help measure the effectiveness of the current marketing strategies. It can be implemented by email survey to newsletter subscribers.
Define Sales Metrics which help to track performance.
Metrics are used to measure the success of a strategy. Benchmarking is an analysis that compares a business to its competitors. For digital marketing in particular, statistical insight which can help to create an understanding of effectiveness is easier and cheaper to obtain than other sources.
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) = Cost per dollar of sales expense Closing/ conversion rate Length of the sales cycle
Benchmarking analysis
- Number of mentions
- Market Mapping: www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/what-is-market-mapping.
- Distribution
- Reach
- Conversion rate
Product Awareness Surveys are a way to gauge what your audience thinks you sell and help measure the effectiveness of the current marketing strategies. It can be implemented by email survey to newsletter subscribers.
Define Sales Metrics which help to track performance.
- Offer strategic direction and insight on how progress will be monitored. Having a quarterly review to assess whether the company is on target is just as important as the plan itself.
- Markets change, and so should your sales plan. Keeping it up to date will help you capitalize on the market and achieve your goals. Tracking progress is made easier by the tools you use to collect data. That data will then have to be analyzed and presented in a way that all departments can understand and use for future growth.
Sources and Suggested Reading
[1] Morgan, N. A., Whitler, K. A., Feng, H., & Chari, S. (2019). Research in marketing strategy. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 47, 4-29. Retrieved from: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/136066/1/JAMS%20Final%20Version%20Unblinded.pdf?utm_source=summari
[2] Rosen, W., & Minsky, L. (2011, July 12). The Activation Imperative. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved August 27, 2023, from https://hbr.org/2011/07/the-activation-imperative
[3] Faughnder, R. (2021, February 2). The Wide Shot: Why 'flywheel' is Hollywood's latest buzzword. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 26, 2023, from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2021-02-02/flywheel-media-company-the-wide-shot
[4] Cespedes, F. V. (2023, March 13). Sales Teams Need to Stop Focusing on the Customer Funnel. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved August 26, 2023, from https://hbr.org/2023/03/sales-teams-need-to-stop-focusing-on-the-customer-funnel
[5] Cornfield, G. (2021, May 6). Designing Customer Journeys for the Post-Pandemic World. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved August 21, 2023, from https://hbr.org/2021/05/designing-customer-journeys-for-the-post-pandemic-world
[2] Rosen, W., & Minsky, L. (2011, July 12). The Activation Imperative. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved August 27, 2023, from https://hbr.org/2011/07/the-activation-imperative
[3] Faughnder, R. (2021, February 2). The Wide Shot: Why 'flywheel' is Hollywood's latest buzzword. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 26, 2023, from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2021-02-02/flywheel-media-company-the-wide-shot
[4] Cespedes, F. V. (2023, March 13). Sales Teams Need to Stop Focusing on the Customer Funnel. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved August 26, 2023, from https://hbr.org/2023/03/sales-teams-need-to-stop-focusing-on-the-customer-funnel
[5] Cornfield, G. (2021, May 6). Designing Customer Journeys for the Post-Pandemic World. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved August 21, 2023, from https://hbr.org/2021/05/designing-customer-journeys-for-the-post-pandemic-world
PUBLISHED BY HAWAI'I BEVERAGE GUIDE