“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .”
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
The Internet has fundamentally changed the marketing function, causing the greatest shift in the field since the inven-tion of the television.
Digital marketing, social media and mobile devices have dramatically changed how we connect with our audiences.
They’ve created a tremendous opportunity, as well as a tremendous burden.
The marketing function has become complicated.
No longer can we rely on print, publicity and a media buyer to distribute our catchy ad campaign; marketing nowadays
requires heavy IT resources and an understanding of complex metrics to effectively (and profitably) connect with our
market—busier people, who have shorter attention spans, and often suffer from information overload.
Social media, search engine marketing, email marketing, mobile devices, website optimization, content marketing . . .
it’s impossible for an individual marketer to master them all, in addition to their traditional media activities. And then
there’s strategic planning, creative development and financial measurement.
It’s overwhelming. And it has caused many marketers to specialize, focusing on a single medium as their area of
expertise.
But the reality in most small to mid-size enterprises (SMEs) is that their marketing team only has room for a handful
of specialists, if any. Most don’t have the budget to employ experts in all the necessary marketing mediums needed
to effectively reach their audience. And even if they do have the budget, they often don’t have enough work to justify
hiring full-time specialists.
If you’re not a specialist hired solely for your expertise, you’re forced to know a little about a lot—to be well-versed in
how to use a combination of digital and traditional mediums to effectively meet your revenue goals.
For the typical marketer at an SME, it’s created a quandary:
Identifying the “right things” to be doing, and then learning how to do them well
Many would argue that it’s more difficult for marketers to determine what we should be doing, instead of how to do
things right.
If we’re not sure what we should be doing, it’s easy to dive into the hot new tactic of the moment . . . without having
a strong understanding of how it ties into the rest of our revenue-generation activities.
Specialization makes it easier to perform tactics well, but specialists aren’t necessarily the best resource to determine
strategy—the “right things” to be doing. Specialists typically favor their own area of expertise.
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The 30,000-Foot Approach
This guide defines a marketing process that you can use to put structure around your daily, monthly and annual revenue-generating activities. It will help you gain a better understanding of what you should be doing, and how it fits into your
overall strategy and departmental activities.
The guide groups common activities into three buckets, to clarify how the activities fit together in the revenue-generation
process:
› Strategy: Your high-level conceptualization of how your offering will penetrate your market. This is your global, long-term, go-to-market strategy, and it may cover 5 to 10 years.
› Tools: The collateral, assets, software and processes that you use during the tactical execution of your strategies.
› Customer Acquisition: The marketing mediums and tactics that you use to execute your strategies to achieve your
goals.
Visualizing these buckets helps to reinforce the need for strategy before tactics. Search engine marketing is a marketing
medium in the customer acquisition bucket. It’s not a strategy—it’s a tactic, supported by tools (your website, sales
literature, messaging, etc.), which should be tied to a strategy.
Our process covers more than just traditional marketing and ties together all go-to-market business activities: strategic
planning, financial planning and measurement, creative development, marketing execution and sales, and customer
retention.
Since marketing is always evolving, don’t shy away from subjects and ideas that are new. Good marketers are always
learning.
Embrace marketing, and most importantly, enjoy creating value for your market and communicating the value of your
activities to your team.
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Table of Contents
30 Copywriting & Graphic Design
39 Customer Relationship Management
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Competitive Positioning
Strategy
COMPETITIVE POSITIONING
BranD Strategy
PriCing
DiStriBution CHannelS
toolS
naming
meSSaging
iDentity
WeBSiteS
literature
DeSign & CoPy
VenDorS
reCruiting
Crm
ClV
roi
CuStomer aCquiSition
Planning
SaleS ProCeSS
CamPaign Planning
marKeting Plan
traditional
Digital
management
traDitional meDia
Seo & Sem
CuStomer retention
DireCt mail
online aDVertiSing
BuSineSS DeVeloPment
PuBliCity
SoCial meDia
SaleS management
telemarKeting
email marKeting
eVentS
What sets your product, service or company apart from your competitors? What value do you provide and how is it
different from the alternatives?
Competitive positioning is about defining how you’ll differentiate your offering and create value for your market. It’s
about carving out a spot in the competitive landscape, putting your stake in the ground, and winning mindshare in the
marketplace—being known for a certain “something.”
A good positioning strategy is influenced by:
› Market profile: Size, competitors, stage of growth
› Customer segments or personas: Groups of prospects with similar wants & needs
› Competitive analysis: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the landscape
› Method for delivering value: How you deliver value to your market at the highest level
When your market clearly sees how your offering is different from that of your competition, it’s easier to influence the
market and win mindshare. Without differentiation, it takes more time and budget to entice the market to engage with
you; as a result, many companies end up competing on price—a tough position to sustain over the long term.
One of the key elements that many small to mid-size companies overlook is how they provide value at the highest level.
There are three essential methods for delivering value: operational excellence, product leadership and customer intimacy.
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Here is a hypothetical example of each:
Operational Excellence
Product Leadership
Customer Intimacy
Herringer customers don’t want bells
Orange Technology’s customers
Starboard’s market is flooded with
and whistles; they just want a good
care most about quality—they want
products at all points of the price
product at the lowest possible price.
the best product.
spectrum.
Herringer focuses on operational
Orange is completely dedicated
Yet, Starboard’s customers want
excellence so they can continually
to innovation and quality. They’re
more than a product off the shelf;
offer the lowest price in the market.
constantly working on product
they want customized solutions.
For example, they just patented
improvements and new ideas to
So Starboard’s strategy is to know
a new machine that dramatically
bring to market. They know what
as much as possible about their
lowers their manufacturing costs.
their competitors are doing and are
customers’ businesses so they can
They’re not trying to create new or
completely focused on staying one
deliver the correct solutions over
better products; they just want to
step ahead in order to capture a
time.
produce more volume at a lower
greater share of their market.
cost.
Starboard knows that they can’t
Orange’s brand and culture is all
just say “We offer great service.”
Herringer’s method for delivering
about product leadership; their
Starboard delivers on their strategy
value is operational excellence;
market recognizes it and is willing to
in every interaction with their market.
it’s a key driver of their long-term
pay for it.
strategy, and their positioning
reflects it.
These companies have a complete understanding of how they deliver value to their market. It’s part of their strategy,
which makes it easier for them to win a position in their respective markets.
Here’s another way to think of it:
You can provide the best offering, the cheapest offering, or the most comprehensive offering, but you can’t provide
all three.
Another key factor in your positioning is your competition. Sure, you need to put your stake in the ground and claim
your turf. But is it turf that you can own? Can you realistically beat your competition to own it?
Rather than leaving your market positioning to chance, establish a strategy. What you’re ultimately striving for is to be
known for something—to own mindshare of the market. This is typically easier for consumer product lines than for B2B
companies, because positioning a single product against three to five competitors is a simpler task than positioning a
mid-size B2B company with numerous offerings in numerous markets.
Owning a strong position in the market is challenging for most small- to mid-size companies, but you have a better
chance of achieving it if you clearly define a strategy and build your brand around it.
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Do you see your company in any of these scenarios?
Best Case
Neutral Case
Worst Case
You provide a one-of-a-kind offering
Your offering is somewhat different
Your market sees little difference
that your market needs and wants;
from—and better than—those
between you and your competitors,
you have strong differentiation from
of your competitors, and you
and your name is not recognized.
your competitors.
communicate that difference
(though probably not as consistently
Because of this, you have to spend
Your market knows your name and
as you should).
precious budget and time educating
associates it with that “one thing”
the market at each touch point. You
that you’re known for.
Some of your market knows your
often end up competing solely on
name, but they describe you in
price, though your business isn’t
And you continually deliver on
different ways; you’re not yet known
optimized to continue profitably
it—perception is reality—so you
for that “one thing,” but at least
with falling prices.
continue to win mindshare in your
you’re occasionally recognized.
market, defending your turf and
You have to fight long and hard for
influencing your market.
You know that you could make a
every sale. It’s very difficult to meet
greater impact on your market with
your revenue and profit goals.
stronger positioning.
How Competitive Positioning Aligns with Strategy
The concept of positioning is entirely strategic. It’s the first element to address in strategic marketing, and everything
else is aligned to it. Jack Trout and Al Ries defined the concept years ago in their landmark book Positioning: The Battle
While the concept is simple—to be known for a single thing in the mind of the customer—the road to achieve it can
be complex. It’s best to have a clear understanding of your market—demographics, segments, their pains, how well
you and your competitors provide solutions, how you truly provide value, and your strengths and weaknesses—before
making this decision.
A fully-informed decision is vital, because you’ll allocate a significant amount of resources in your journey to achieve it.
Key Concepts & Steps
Profile your market
› Document the size of your market.
› Identify your major competitors and how they’re positioned.
› Determine whether your market is in the introductory, growth, mature, or declining stage of its life. This “lifecycle
stage” affects your strategy.
Segment your market
› Understand the problems that your market faces. Talk with prospects and customers, or conduct research if you
have the time, budget and opportunity. Uncover their true wants and needs—you’ll learn a great deal about what
you can deliver to solve their problems and beat your competitors.
› Group your prospects into “segments” or “personas” that have similar problems and can use your offering in similar
ways. By grouping prospects into segments or personas, you can efficiently market to each group.
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Define how you deliver value
› At the highest level, there are three core types of value that a company can deliver: operational efficiency (the lowest
price), product leadership (the best product), or customer intimacy (the best solution & service). Determine which
one you’re best equipped to deliver; your decision is your method for delivering value.
Evaluate your competition
› list your competitors. Include any that can solve your customers’ problems, even if the competitors’ solutions are
much different from yours—they’re still your competition.
› Rate yourself and your direct competitors based on operational efficiency (price), product leadership and customer
intimacy. It’s easy to think you’re the best, so be as impartial as you can be.
Stake a position
› Identify areas where your competition is vulnerable.
› Determine whether you can focus on those vulnerable areas—they’re major opportunities.
› Make a decision on how to position your offering or company.
Select the mindshare you want to own, and create your strategy to achieve it
› Review the components of your market and evaluate what you want to be known for in the future. Condense all
your research and analysis into the “one thing” that you want to be known for, and design your long-term strategy
to achieve it.
Next Steps
Develop a brand strategy to help you communicate your positioning and solidify your value every time you touch your
market. Together, these two strategies are the essential building blocks for your business.
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Brand Strategy
Strategy
ComPetitiVe PoSitioning
BRAND STRATE
A
GY
G
PriCing
DiStriBution CHannelS
toolS
naming
meSSaging
iDentity
WeBSiteS
literature
DeSign & CoPy
VenDorS
reCruiting
Crm
ClV
roi
CuStomer aCquiSition
Planning
SaleS ProCeSS
CamPaign Planning
marKeting Plan
traditional
Digital
management
traDitional meDia
Seo & Sem
CuStomer retention
DireCt mail
online aDVertiSing
BuSineSS DeVeloPment
PuBliCity
SoCial meDia
SaleS management
telemarKeting
email marKeting
eVentS
How do you define a brand? Is it a logo, a name or a slogan, or a graphic design or a color scheme?
Your brand is the entire experience that your market has with your offering or company. It’s what you stand for, a
promise that you make, and the personality that you convey.
And while it includes your logo, your color palette and your slogan, these are only creative elements that convey your
brand. In reality, your brand lives in