You Need To Put Successful Marketing Into Practice

Following creating practical marketing plan, you need to put it into successful marketing. Understand how to put successful marketing into practice.

This is the second part of the earlier write up on creating a practical marketing plan. This part discussed the importance of content marketing and channel selection. Now, let us understand how to put successful marketing into practice.

Some types of content, such as a webinar or a blog, are also channels. Technically speaking, a blog is a specific article, and a weblog is a channel onto which you post the blog. Consider if you have compelling content for such channels before starting them. For example, it’s pointless to host a webinar without interesting or compelling content is there to discuss. Prospects should find value in it least this channel does not serve the purpose.

Brainstorm tactics for successful marketing

You must now go into greater detail with the content and channels that you chose in the earlier post. Though some channels deliver content directly to the target prospects, keep in mind that your intervention is required at critical points when the buyer progresses along the buying cycle. Practically, the content needs circulation in many channels at different points along the customer journey. For example, your staff, like accounts managers and salespeople, should share a compelling blog with their contacts individually and in their social media.

Consider the following points before you figure out your strategy.

Various channels do well at different phases of the prospect decision-making process. Blogs, for example, are good for the initial phases since they are informative, and webinars look good for the prospect when he/she is intensely searching for solutions before consulting sellers directly.

You can repurpose content across streams of channels and even at phases most times. You could, for example, turn webinar content into a white paper, as also turn it as blogs. Share it on your website and on social media. Such possibilities save time in content creation.

Consider your content as from the viewpoint of every person of the prospective organisation in their decision-making role. Here, some non-decision making person does prior research. So content should stimulate interest in him to take it further in their journey. As such, content at various stages needs to attract both decision and non-decision making persons in the prospective organisation.

Create a map of your key buyer personas to get inside their heads. Keep those personas in mind as you work on the plan.

Two-stage tactics planning

Make tactical planning in two stages. There’s no point in using a channel if nothing relevant is there to say, as that channel would not benefit your business in any way. Perhaps consider using it afterwards.

The following is only an illustration for creating your content if you have done yet, or wishing to improve it. The firstl stage content is essential one, while the content creation for the later stage is optional if you wish to develop the tactics.

The content mentioned in the first stage essentially is your collateral. Focus on getting your collateral, if you do not have sufficient of them.

Difference between content and collateral

Speeches, white papers, ebooks, blogs, expertise pieces, landing pages, email text, press releases are all examples of content. They are strengthening, interactive, and versatile value resources useful in early focussing stages in the lifecycle of the customers in marketing campaigns.

Whereas, website, company profile, corporate presentations, sales kits, services description sheets, case studies, customer questionnaires, pricing tools, return on investment (ROI) calculators, proposal templates,  and agreement templates are all collateral materials used in the sales lifecycle.

Channel selection for successful marketing

The channel selection depends on the content you have or your resources can provide. It also depends on where the prospects search. For example, many read blogs for informative material, and prospects in some industries hardly use social media. Websites have become common channels for content to know what is what in your business. In case of a weblog, you need to actively provide blogs, otherwise it won’t serve any purpose.

Your channels mapping can look like this:

Channel	Purpose
Website	For your marketing effort, updating it regularly.
Email	For prospecting, inviting to weblog, for registration at an event or a webinar.
Landing page(s)	Where you want your prospects to reach when they click a link in emails or social media or any other clickable links.
Weblog	For blogs
Website/Tube channel	Videos
Search Engine Optimisation(SEO)	For showing your content high on a search engine by optimising your content with keywords.
Social media	For posts with short pieces of write up to attract prospects to your website or blog or videos, etc.
Local events, conferences and exhibitions.	For participation
Sales partners/agents/ distributors	For marketing and promoting sales
Advertisement	For sales

Involving staff in successful marketing

Keep informing your personnel up-to-date on what material is being distributed and to whom it is being directed. It allows them to employ that content to keep luring prospects by even introducing more value. Also, discuss with your selling and account managers what messages ought to be sent to active customers and prospects.