Over the past two weeks, our fledgling Young Enterprise teams have been taking part in workshops to give them some insights into how to create an effective marketing plan.
Every day, we are exposed to marketing, from social media ads to billboards, TV, radio, and more – but we don’t often appreciate the planning that goes into what that marketing looks like, where it is displayed, and who is best positioned to see it. Mr Ayling, the Marketing & Communications Manager for Merchant Taylors’, took the teams through how to create an effective marketing strategy and give them some food for thought on how best to turn their incredible concepts and ideas into a workable plan.
Due to our incredibly tight deadlines in this process, it is critical that our marketing strategy and plan is optimised and efficient, as it is the best way to raise awareness about our enterprise. Mr Ayling’s talk was an excellent crash course on marketing, introducing us to this significant part of the business world.
So, how do you create a marketing plan?
The three fundamental areas to consider are:
- Identifying your target audience.
- Selecting the best marketing channels to communicate with them.
- Establishing your key message to resonate with them.
Identify Your Audience
No two people are the exactly same, but they are probably similar. Identifying your audience means finding broad categories of people who might be interested in what you do or sell. There are a number of ways we can do this, including using demographics (age, gender, income etc…), psychographics (including beliefs and morals) or simple behaviours.
With the festive season upon us, one way that the teams thought might segment their potential audiences was considering whether their customer was buying for themselves or as a gift for someone else. This behavioural difference, though simple, means an entirely different approach may be warranted.
Select the Best Channel for Communication
When you know who you will be looking to speak to, you next need to think about how best to reach them.
You need to meet your audience where they are at. If your audience spends their time on social media, then there is no point in running an advert in an obscure German technical magazine, because it won’t be seen. The number of available channels are vast, and selecting the right one can be the difference between standing out to your audience and fading into obscurity.
Help Them Stand Out
One of the biggest challenges any new business can face is growing an audience. Based upon Mr Ayling’s advice, both of the Young Enterprise Teams have selected Instagram as their primary marketing channel. By simply following their page and dropping a like whenever you see the amazing content they have planned, you can make a huge difference to their success.
Hydrobloom were given a fast-paced overview on how to put together an effective marketing plan for their business enterprise in a single session after school. The energetic Mr Ayling, the School's Communications and Marketing expert, provided a complete overview of the marketing process, with clear steps on where and how to start. This gave the team a very useful foundation as they embark on their Young Enterprise journey.
Establishing A Message
The final question any marketeer must answer is, “what do you want to say?”. This is where our key message comes into play. If in one conversation you talk about how cheap your product is, but in the next you talk about how premium the finish is, this creates confusion and doubt in the mind of the person hearing it.
We discussed the “Messaging House” in the workshop as an effective metaphor to ensure that all of your marketing feeds into a cohesive message about who you are and what your products are about.
Next Steps
The teams are now deep in the data preparing their marketing plans. We are looking forward to seeing what they come up with and the success that will follow.
Don’t forget to give them a like wherever you see them online and keep an eye around the School for a variety of sales and fundraising events!
