I have seen that most businesses get, at least a bit, clueless when it comes to this stage. There is significant thinking, ideation, strategizing and planning required before we start executing.

When you come up with a new startup, a new product, a new brand, the next natural step will be to look for ways for people to take notice of the brand, take interest in it and ultimately opt to consume the product or service the brand offers. I have seen that most businesses get, at least a bit, clueless when it comes to this stage. Like, for example, this:

http://www.abizy.com/2017/11/funny-marketing memes.html

There is significant thinking, ideation, strategizing and planning required before we start executing. The cluelessness stems from the challenge of Where should one start?

For someone from a non - marketing background, this can seem a tougher challenge which is where guidance is needed.

The best strategies for promoting a brand depends on a multitude of factors.

Some factors are:

Your business and brand.

• Is it a product or service based business?

• Is it an online, offline or omni channel one?

• If it is an offline retail business, what is the amount of footfalls the business receives daily and weekly?

• If online, does your business have a static website or a Web based app or a mobile app or all of them?

• If it is a mobile app, it is present on the play store or the Apple app store or neither or both.

• Which sector and industry is this business into? Is it agriculture, tech, health, education, TTL, FMCG, etc.

• Which space is your business in? Is it in the B2B, B2C, B2G, C2C or D2C space?

• Which locations does your business have a presence in?

• What are your immediate business challenges and pain points?

• What is the ulterior vision of your brand or business?

• Does this brand have any sister or parent brand that it can be coupled with?

• Where so you see your business in the next 2 to 3 years?

Marketing plan:

• What are your marketing objectives? What do you want to ultimately achieve by marketing and promoting your brand? Is it website traffic, app downloads, registrations, raising funds, more sales, more awareness about a particular thing, etc.

• What is your allocated / planned annual marketing budget and subsequently the quarterly and monthly budgets?

• Do you currently undertake any marketing activities? If yes, what are those?

• Do we run any offers currently? If so, what are those?

• How much are you currently spending on marketing, say on a monthly basis?

• What is the current website traffic, monthly sales, fund received, number of app downloads, etc? .

• What our existing communication channels with our customers?

• How often do we communicate?

• How all do we collect info from visitors or customers?

• What info do we collect or intend to collect?

• How large is our customer database?

• Do you plan to focus on online offline or omni channel marketing strategies?

• How do you want to print e your product or service and what pricing models do you plan to have?

Target segment: what is your target:

• Geography / geographies - can be continents, countries, cities, districts, or even areas.

• Age group and gender - help figure out is it toddlers, school going kids, college going, working professionals, elderly retired people, etc.

• If B2B, which is your target decision maker set? Is it the tech folks, the HR, finance, etc.

• Language what language / s does your target audience understand?

While these are some key factors, there are other factors that are taken into account while creating a detailed marketing strategy and plan to begin with.

@MarcDeMesel @Kyoo @majamalu I hope you like the articles sir.