The 3 Basics Of A Successful Marketing Strategy

Author: Susan Rice Lincoln   |   March 4th, 2011

Just a few years back, something odd happened. For years, the internet with all its potential sat on the sidelines.

Yes, we were all using it. We set up our websites. We created our emails. We even started to…shop a little online.

But at some incalculable moment, the importance of the internet shifted. No longer a mere addendum, it became front and center. And I am not certain that many of us have caught up with that yet. We still live in an old world with decaying systems and archaic mindsets.

And while social media leads the pack, the internet in all its iterations abounds with opportunity and wealth.

Used correctly, the internet/social media has mindboggling potential to change your life and your business.

But before you can really take advantage of the opportunities, I think it is important that you wipe the slate clean.

Start with a fresh envelope.

Re-evaluate what you are doing.

And make dead certain that fundamental basics are in place.

What are these basics?

First, is your brand.  A long-time branding expert, I know for a fact that the only way really to stand out in a sea of competitors is to make absolutely sure that your brand stands for something specific and unique.  Part of your branding is your look.  But the look and design of your brand is nothing but a reflection of the IDEA your brand stands for.  So many companies get this one wrong.  A banal descriptor of the products and services you sell is simply not enough.

The second basic is to understand your target market.   We left a mass media world behind many many moons ago. Today is all about niche marketing.  Your target market is no longer one single monolith but a series of precise niches.   Don’t think big.  Think small many times over.  By the way, the tools of social media and the internet let us execute precise niche marketing efficiently and easily.

The third basic is the message.  What exactly do you want to say?  Your message needs to be more than flogging your products and services.

In relationship marketing (which is what marketing on the internet is), you need to provide interesting, original and ongoing content about your industry. Without it, people will leave in droves.  With it, you will establish true authority and leave your competitors in the dust.

About Susan Rice Lincoln Related Resources More Posts by Susan Rice Lincoln To discover the easy and inexpensive ways anyone can attract more clients and maximize their profits, sign up for your FREE New Profit Rules Report.

6 Responses to “The 3 Basics Of A Successful Marketing Strategy”

1. Dave Thielen Says:
   March 4th, 2011 at 9:11 am

   You know, you make the internet sound like this magical place where all the rules have changed. In reality the only thing that is changed is that everybody is finding that the old rules work.

   There is nothing in your post that isn’t something that wasn’t taught back in the 1960’s, and before. All that is really changed is the method of delivery.

   There is nothing magical about the internet, facebook, twitter, whatever. It’s just another medium to deliver a message. The same message that has been being delivered by successful business for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

2. Michele Anderson Says:
   March 4th, 2011 at 11:41 am

   Dave! Your’re right… but some terms have changed the semantics, and there are new skills using the technology to learn. Common sense doesn’t change… but we get bogged down by what is new and suddenly think… “I don’t know what I’m dong.” Plus, there are millions of people who were not marketing anything 10 years ago… and don’t have any idea that marketing added an limb, and did not reinvent itself. We have to show new marketers how to market in the classic and new ways. I think you’d agree this is not the time to ignore either…

3. Merrill Clark Says:
   March 4th, 2011 at 12:50 pm

   Good article Susan…

   However, I agree that you must know and understand your market, and that your message must be matched perfectly to your target market…

   But I disagree that branding is the first thing businesses need to consider in their marketing strategy. I do agree it is important, but not “first up”.

   I think “target market” and “message” have to come first. That’s the only way a business can make money. Brands don’t pay the bills.

   Once a business starts generating leads and sales using direct response marketing and copywriting principles (message to market and media match), the branding will take place by default.

   Just my two cents…

   Merrill Clark
   Crestview Marketing Services

4. Tim Allen Says:
   March 7th, 2011 at 8:36 am

   Branding develops after the target market and message questions have been answered, but a company runs the risk of an identity crisis or sending the wrong brand message if they have not resolved it up front. It’s all the homework that has to be done beforehand to execute an efficient campaign so that the brand, market and message are all on target.

5. ADEBAYO Says:
   July 4th, 2011 at 8:39 am

   All the 3 basics strategies work together for better result. Having said that, there is a need to strictly follow the guides or else will be no result.

6. MeLinda Darnell Says:
   August 30th, 2011 at 10:42 am

   What can we do to improve sales?

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