It’s well known that a competition is best won with strategic planning. The same goes for the very real competition of running a successful business. Let’s dig in!
To establish a brand…
Win the loyalty of customers…
Sell your product or service…
And stay ahead of the,
you guessed it,
competition
You have to think strategically.
You can begin by thinking about SWOT analysis. What is SWOT analysis you ask? Let’s take you through a quick examination of this highly efficient method.
Strengths are the first aspect of your business to consider. It’s a productive place to start. Considering your strengths before your shortcomings will improve your belief in your business, which will show through to your audience and increase the likelihood of turning them into customers. Think about what qualities your company has that give it an advantage.
Weaknesses are also an important aspect to consider. Instead of letting bad reviews get you down, think of them as an excellent opportunity to address weaknesses and make changes that ensure good feedback moving forward.
Opportunities can be game changers for your company. They’re always there, sometimes you just have to look a little harder to find them.
Threats can be difficult to address, but turning a blind eye can be enough to ruin your business. Just like weaknesses it’s important to think about threats so that you can fortify your company against them.
Once you’ve got your SWOT analysis taken care of and a strong sense of your place within the market it’s time to establish your goals.
Goals
You want to create short term and long-term goals for your company. You also want to make sure they’re SMART goals. Not just smart goals, but S-M-A-R-T goals. Let me explain.
Specific goals are ones that are focused and narrow enough to be achievable.
For example, suppose you are a company selling plant-based leather products. A specific goal would be to ensure that all products were made from sustainably sourced materials.
Measurable goals ensure trackability of progress.
The previously mentioned goal could be measured by creating a scale to determine the sustainability of every item used in production.
Attainable goals are realistic goals that you have the skills and resources to achieve.
Our goal is achievable because screening suppliers is commonplace and the process of evaluating the data received is within our capabilities.
Relevant goals lineup with you companies’ values and abilities.
The customers of a plant-based business would largely revolve their attention and spending around ethical values.
Timely goals utilize deadlines to secure productivity.
Deadlines can be set for suppliers to comply with our screening and for the analysis of the data received.
A company should have several short and long-term goals in place at once.
The next step is to define what your company must do to achieve these goals. In order to do this, it’s crucial to know your target audience. It’s also important for them to know your company, your brand, and what you stand for.
Having a strong position on your values and conveying them clearly will set you apart from your competition.
For the plant-based business this is especially important. Many customers attraction to your business will be motivated by a strong conviction to align with the ethical values that interest people in sustainable plant-based living.
Think about key words and phrases in the content that you create for your business. What terms are potential customers using in their searches?
- Sustainably sourced
- Sustainable living
- Waste free
- Plastic free
- Cruelty free
- Healthy
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Plant-based protein
Consider using google’s keyword planner to assist you in determining the best keywords to include in your content.
Once you have your content strategically created the next step is to consider the appropriate platform. Social media is a wonderful venue for acquiring a following of potential customers and cultivating brand loyalty.
Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter can all be utilized to your businesses advantage.
This is when content calendars become extremely useful. They can help you create a framework for what your business plans to share and how that can most productively align with the audience of each social platform.
Content Calendars are just one of many automated marketing tools. For digital marketing in an increasingly digital age, you should consider the many automated marketing tools available to you.
- Marketing analytics factors in high on the list. As we saw with our SMART goal, analyzing data can be important for measuring and achieving goals in the ideal time frame. Automated analytics can measure key performance indicators that are relevant to your specific goals.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems provide your business with a place to store customer data, track customer behavior and interactions, and generally manage relationships with customers.
- Artificial Intelligence in the form of chatbots is an excellent and cost-effective way to deal with customer relations. If you’re curious for more information about AI check out this piece by Fast Company .
- Email marketing becomes an effortless way to reach out to customers, keeping them informed and encouraging their patronage with current deals and coupons. Automation makes emails a stress-free tool for your company.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) automation tools can save you time and money on tasks that contribute to brand awareness and expansion of your customer base, among other things. For more information on how SEO automation can help your business thrive you can check out this blog on Morphio.
The bottom line is, let automation help you do more.
There’s a lot of ground to cover in your exciting new business venture. Whether it be the plan for a new business or a preexisting one, you’ll want to ensure that you have the most effective strategy for your companies digital marketing.
Don’t let the sheer amount of information available deter you. It’s actually your greatest asset.
While you consider the tools available to make digital marketing successful for you don’t lose sight of the real human reasons that customers are coming to your business. As a plant-based business the strength of your values will act as a beacon to your target audience.
Thank you for taking an interest in this digital marketing strategy for the plant-based business. For more information on digital marketing please visit The International Institute Of Digital Marketing™.
