To start, where are you in your marketing journey?
Before spending on marketing tactics presented to you with razzle dazzle salesmanship, you need to have a strategy to identify exactly what your marketing priorities should be. Your marketing needs will vary depending on your industry and your niche.
The key to success is to create a strategy first before wasting money on tactics that may or may not work. Once you have a plan, you can build a marketing foundation that you can expand methodically as your business grows.
In general, service businesses at similar sizes of growth and revenue need similar things.
What Are Your Marketing Priorities?
It’s hard to tell, right?! You are probably bombarded by marketing service offers, and some sound very persuasive. But how can you make the right decision?
Customer Success Track*
The Customer Success Track Business Model makes it easy to visualize what marketing activities are most important at each stage of business growth. It also allows you to see the trajectory from where you are now to where you will be as your business grows, to help you envision your future.
It’s true that every business is unique. But it’s also true that business owners in any industry experience many of the same problems when it comes to marketing. The book The Ultimate Marketing Engine identifies 5 stages of growth, each with their own unique characteristics.
*The Customer Success Track Business Model appears in The Ultimate Marketing Engine by John Jantsch, Founder of Duct Tape Marketing. Used with permission.
How to Start Thinking Strategically About Your Business Marketing
1. Business growth stage
Which stage of business growth best matches your business? For simplicity, we’ll look at the first three stages where many small businesses fall.
2. Marketing patterns
Once you have identified the stage of your business in #1, check that category below to see if you recognize the marketing characteristics that are typical for a business your size.
3. Marketing challenges
Check your category below to see if you can relate to the typical marketing pain points of most businesses your size.
4. Marketing Solutions
If you can see your business in the business stages, marketing patterns and problems above, here you’ll begin to see prioritized solutions. Let us help you tackle these one step at a time! We have plans designed for each level, using the Duct Tape Marketing Customer Success System.
5. Let’s Talk About Your Options
Let’s schedule a call about your marketing needs to help you clarify your direction and get moving in a good direction.