Creating an Effective Marketing Strategy That Drives Returns for Manufacturing Companies

Throughout our decades of experience collaborating with numerous manufacturing companies, we discovered an astonishing fact: not a single one had a pre-existing written marketing strategy. This lack of a clear roadmap is a significant factor contributing to the challenges faced by marketers in achieving their desired outcomes. In today’s competitive landscape, simply having a great product or service is not enough to ensure sustainable growth. It is the implementation of a well-crafted marketing strategy that sets businesses apart, allowing them to reach the right audience, create compelling brand experiences, and cultivate lasting customer relationships.

Marketing Strategy

The third pillar of the Great 8 Pillars of ROI-Driven Marketing is your marketing strategy. A written, formal document outlining your multichannel marketing strategy is crucial for marketers to attain the results they desire. A marketing department with a formal written strategy is a marketing department that reaches its goals! In this blog, you will learn how to create a written marketing strategy that will keep you on track and help you hit your ROI-driven marketing goals.

Building Your Marketing Strategy

A marketing strategy sets the stage for effective promotional efforts, targeted campaigns, and meaningful customer engagement. Just as a well-designed blueprint guides the construction of a sturdy building, a thoughtfully crafted marketing strategy lays the groundwork for achieving your organization's goals and objectives. 

In our 10X ROI-Driven Marketing Strategy Template, we give guidance on all of the important factors that you need to include within your marketing strategy. In all, there are 12 sections to consider:

• THREE-YEAR VISION FOR MARKETING OBJECTIVES - Your three-year vision is an outline of your long-term marketing objectives. It should outline broad goals you hope to achieve each year and some of the obstacles that may get in the way of you achieving those goals.
• ROI-DRIVEN GOALS - You will want to outline your ROI-driven goals for the year. To learn more about how you can do this, check out our blog post on the first pillar of the Great 8 Pillars of ROI-Driven Marketing.
• SUPPORTING KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS - Your marketing strategy should document the key performance indicators (KPIs) that you will be tracking. In our marketing strategy template, we outline the KPIs that you need to track for ROI calculation.
• IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE - In our blog on value proposition, messaging, and branding, we emphasized the importance of having an ideal customer profile (ICP) that outlines the characteristics of organizations that will benefit most from your product. It’s important that you build out an ICP so you can build your marketing strategy to best target the customers most likely to purchase your product. 
• YOUR BUYER PERSONAS - Buyer personas represent key decision-makers within your target ICP. As with your ICP, a strong buyer persona helps you create a marketing strategy that has the best chance of bringing in new customers. Check out our ICP and Buyer Persona Template to create your own ICP and buyer personas.
• CONVERSION STRATEGY - An integral part of your marketing strategy is outlining how you will convert prospects into new customers. This involves documenting your unique conversion stages and outlining the steps to progress buyers from one stage of the funnel to the next until they make a purchase.
• INBOUND MARKETING STRATEGY - Inbound marketing is using valuable content and experiences to attract potential customers, instead of interrupting them in their day with advertisements. It’s central to any digital marketing today, which is why it should have its own section in your documented marketing strategy. In this section, you will outline all the inbound marketing tactics you plan to implement that year and what ROI goals it’s helping you achieve.
• OUTBOUND MARKETING STRATEGY - Outbound marketing is a more traditional form of marketing, usually involving paid advertising to directly advertise to your target audience. In this section, you will outline your outbound tactics and how they will help you achieve your ROI-driven goals.
• SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION STRATEGY - SEO plays a vital role in your comprehensive marketing strategy as it integrates with various elements such as social media, content, outbound and inbound marketing, and website optimization. Including SEO as a separate component in your strategic documentation is crucial. 
• SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY - Your organization needs a social media strategy that helps drive potential customers to your website and distribute your content.
• CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY - Your content marketing strategy outlines the channels you will create content for that year, the goals for each channel, and the topics each channel will cover.
• TWELVE-MONTH MARKETING CALENDAR AND ROLLOUT PLAN - The marketing calendar and rollout plan provide a visual representation of your implementation schedule, outlining when specific tactics will occur. It serves as a clear timeline for executing your marketing initiatives.

Embracing Success: The Power of a Formal Marketing Strategy

A formal marketing strategy is not just a luxury but a necessity for any business aiming to thrive in today’s highly competitive market. It serves as a roadmap, guiding businesses toward their goals and helping them make informed decisions. By accessing our free-to-download Marketing Strategy Template, you can craft a well-defined marketing strategy that provides a clear understanding of the target audience, identifies unique selling opportunities, and outlines the most effective channels and tactics to reach potential customers. 

Check out “The Great 8 Pillars: ROI-Driven Marketing for Manufacturing Companies” to learn more about how you can maximize returns.