Has Your Company Reached the Marketing Apprentice Level?
If
you subscribe to the basic
keys to success
that apply to any marketing competency level and your
company has achieved marketing
novice
competency, you are ready to design a marketing strategy that
will support your long-term goals through tactics and objectives that evolve
during the next 3 to 5 year time horizon.
Develop Personas Based on Target Market Attributes
A marketing apprentice tailors a Brand UVP [Unique
Value Proposition] for each persona that has significant staying power to merit the company’s attention. This strategy will earn higher margins
than competitors who lead with price. Each persona is identified by
its attributes along with marcom
and channel accessibility. Consumer persona traits include
demographic [age, gender, ...], psychographic [interests, aspirations, ...],
behavioral [what motivates them, buying triggers, loyalty], user status [potential, first-time, regular, usage rate]. B2B persona traits include firmographic [industry,
location, size], behavioral [potential, first-time, usage rate], buying process
[sealed bids, negotiations, ...] and attitudinal [how they make buying
decisions].
Marketing Strategy Should Fit Apprentice Competency
- Most
categories have a geographic or industrial Market
Leader
in customer loyalty, distribution, image, UVP, profitability and budget.
For example, the US can emulate sustainable energy leader, Sweden,
who derives 54% of its energy from renewables.
Architectural firms can follow ZGF Architects
who is recognized for its standard of excellence. A marketing apprentice can thrive by emulating
the leader’s best-in-class practices on a guerilla marketing budget while
developing a sustainable competitive advantage.
Market Makers
create an umbrella
under which an apprentice can profitably deliver on their Brand UVP. For example, Salesforce.com
is a market maker for marketing
systems integrators.
Varco Pruden
is a market maker for construction
companies who erect steel buildings for businesses. An apprentice continuously searches for new
market makers with whom to partner.
An
apprentice implements the right Targeting
Strategy
i.e. concentrated [one marketing mix for one segment], undifferentiated
[one marketing mix for multiple segments] or differentiated [unique marketing
mix for each segment].
Marketing Apprentice Tactics
A marketing apprentice
is always innovating customer facing programs, campaigns and processes along
with products and services. They invest
in automation tools to drive process consistency and employee efficiency.
A marketing apprentice makes it easy and fun to do business with their
company. CEM [Customer Experience Management] earns
repeat business, referrals and new ideas.
An apprentice implements
a content marketing strategy that is tailored for contacts in each stage of the
marketing funnel [suspect, prospect, lead] along with content that helps to
retain and develop customers. Success
stories, case studies and application notes are powerful weapons.
The Primary KPI
for a marketing apprentice is related to the number of sales ready leads delivered to the sales team that are converted to sales opportunities in the sales funnel.
