Strategy vs. Tactics in Marketing . http://www.crconlinemedia.com/strategy-tactics-marketing/ Have you developed a suite of marketing tactics or have you developed a strategic marketing plan? Many, many business owners have strung together a bunch of marketing tactics. They think it is strategic but they don’t fit together well and they don’t work strategically. A marketing str... Donna Lynn Price

Have you developed a suite of marketing tactics or have you developed a strategic marketing plan?

Many, many business owners have strung together a bunch of marketing tactics.  They think it is strategic but they don't fit together well and they don't work strategically. A marketing strategy should take a prospect through a process that first gets their attention, then educates and guides until they have reached the point that they WANT to buy from YOU because they see YOU as the person that has what they need. But when you decide to start using a new tactic without thinking through the entire process of the buyer, you will most likely fail. The tactic will be blamed as ineffective and you will not see the results that you want. It is vital that strategic marketing be well thought through.  You should NOT be calling the newspaper to run an ad without a well thought out strategy for what people will do when they see your ad. I was talking with a business owner just the other day that said -- 'well, I just want brand recognition'.  That is great for Coke or Pepsi or McDonald's, but most small business owners cannot afford to do just brand recognition.  They need to do lead generation and lead conversion.  Brand recognition takes a lot of money. Using a tactic for brand recognition without a strategic system for lead capture is sure bankrupt many a small business owner. But -- with the right strategy you can make an ad work for you.  Marketing is not a puzzle -- but it does have a lot of pieces to it and they need to be strategically put together. The newspaper ad -- needs to have a call to action!  That call to action takes the prospect somewhere -- you need to think this through. The call to action should NOT be "Call ME!".  That just is not realistic.  What is a good call to action? A strong call to action has a lead capture system built into it.  It compels the prospect to give to you their name and email (minimally) and in exchange you provide something of value to the prospect.  Most commonly -- this is a landing page with an offer of a free report/video series/tip sheet/white paper...etc.  It is too early to jump to the free consult.  And the offer needs to be compelling.  The lead capture form needs to be automated. You do not want to be manually sending out free reports to people. Using a service such as Aweber, Get Response, Mail Chimp or Zoho provides this to you. Once you have captured the lead, then you have the ability to continue to follow up with people.  Auto-responders can provide a great deal of follow up for you, automatically.  Eventually, you do want to be talking with the prospect.  When depends on you and your business.  But when you do -- this needs to be thought out also. What is the goal of the conversation?  How can you guide the lead to that goal?  Using a script to do this increases your conversions.  Just winging it and hoping that each of your staff do the same is likely to decrease your conversion rate.  When you script out the call or the office visit or the webinar then you are thinking the entire process through.  You aren't forgetting a piece. Throughout the process you need to be tracking what worked and what didn't. If there is a step that doesn't work -- then refine it.  Do not give it up.  Revise and refine to get it right. Take a few minutes to look at your strategies -- are they well thought out?  Is there a system in place?  Have you put scripts in place for your staff? Join the webinar this Thursday to learn what you are probably doing wrong in your marketing: JOIN THE WEBINAR: Everything You've Learned About Generating Leads is Wrong!!