5 Steps Towards a Marketing Tactic by:Jody Gabourie
There are 5 major steps involved in creating and promoting any marketing strategy: preparation
, creation, production, delivery and release/launch.
Let's have a look at each of these 5 major steps:
STEP ONE: PREPARATION
The first major step involved in getting a specific marketing tactic up and running deals with preparation. In the preparation stage you need to answer questions such as:
* which format you will use?
* what is the content going to be?
* where will you get the content?
* who do you need to include in this project?
Let's look at the example of creating a free-giveaway as the specific marketing tactic you want to do. There are basically 6 different formats (involving audio, video or written) you can choose from - depending on your resources (money, time, materials), your objectives, and what your target group likes (do they prefer audio over written, etc.).
Once you've decided on what format you are going to provide your free-giveaway in, you next want to determine what the content is going to be.
Will you create something from scratch, use existing materials you have (articles, teleseminar recording), or re-purpose something you've already used (i.e. transcribe a speech)
You also need to determine (based on your time, skill and money resources) if you'll be assigning certain steps to different people. Examples would be a designer, Virtual Assistant, partner, editor and so on.
STEP TWO: CREATION
This is the step where you actually start creating or putting together whatever's needed for the specific marketing tactic you're working on.
Does this step require writing or recording something? Maybe you have to edit some existing material?
Using the example of the free-giveaway, say you decide that an MP3 recording is going to be your free product. Some of the steps involved would include:
* write a script
* rehearse/practice
* get someone to interview you
STEP THREE: PRODUCTION
The third step in implementing any marketing tactic revolves around production. Depending on the tactic, this could require only a few steps. It depends on the format, the content, how much of it you are outsourcing, and so on.
Using the MP3 free-giveaway as an example, some of the activities you would need to do for production could include:
* record the audio
* edit content
* add music
STEP FOUR: DELIVERY
The fourth step is to set up your delivery mechanisms for the particular marketing tactic you are doing. In other words, how are you going to get noticed, get something into the hands of prospects and clients, give something to your joint venture and strategic alliance partners, and the like?
This step depends on what your objective is for this marketing strategy, who your target group is and where they hang out, your current resources (do you have a website?) and so on.
Using the example of the marketing tactic of a free-giveaway, some of the activities under this step could be:
* create the MP3 link
* create a web page
* write an autoresponder
* create an opt-in box
STEP FIVE: RELEASE/LAUNCH
This is the step where you promote, release, launch, talk about, and start utilizing the particular marketing tactic. There are always several ways you can promote a marketing strategy - usually via other marketing activities you're already utilizing.
Depending on the marketing tactic, you could be launching it yourself or in conjunction with a joint venture or other partner. The activities that could be included under Step Five are really dependent on your resources, content and imagination.
Using the free-giveaway example, some ways to promote an MP3 free product are:
* have a link to your free-giveaway on your Facebook profile
* mention your free-giveaway in your resource box at the end of articles you write
* announce it on message boards and email discussion lists
* post your audio to podcast directories
* send out a press release
Each of these 5 steps can be broken down into several smaller activities that are required to bring a marketing tactic "into being" - so to speak. These 5 major steps will give you a good start when creating your marketing plan, and then you can flesh out the individual necessary actions under each of these steps.
About the author
Jody Gabourie, The Small Business Marketing Coach, teaches small business owners and entrepreneurs how to take action with their marketing in order to get more results and more profits. To learn all about her unique "done-for-you" ebooks called Ready Made Marketing Plans and to sign up for her FREE special report, ezine and articles, visit her site at
http://www.JodyGabourieMarketingCoach.com
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