With one of the roughest years behind us, many of us are looking to 2021 to deliver a different reality.
While there is a light at the end of the dark pandemic tunnel; now isn't the time to sit on our heels and wait for things to normalize. In fact, more than ever, the beginning of the year is the perfect time to create your marketing blueprint.
Why a blueprint?
As you probably know, when any structure or complex piece of machinery is built, the blueprint is the master plan that gets everyone from Point A to Point Z, seamlessly and successfully.
Blueprints are vital because they ensure everyone — from the architect to the building contractors to the electrician — is on the same page, working toward the same goal. A blueprint gives clear marching orders for “what to do” next and also provides a central document for people to refer to should an error occur.
A marketing blueprint achieves the same for your business.
Today, I’m going to cover what you need to know to create a successful marketing blueprint for this year and beyond.
The 3 big keys I'm going to detail here in this article are an abridged version of my proprietary process called the Marketing RAMP™, which I created for my agency Built by Love™. The Marketing RAMP™ gives business owners both the detailed foundation and high-level view of their marketing strategy, and also acts as an implementation guide for building an airtight marketing machine.
And just as every house begins with a blueprint, every new client that comes to my agency starts with the Marketing RAMP™. (If you're interested to learn more or have us do this work for you, please book your free consult by clicking this link).
Get everything covered in this article as a downloadable how-to guide by clicking the button below:
MARKETING BLUEPRINT
Who's The "House" For? (Identify Ideal Customer)
The start of any marketing blueprint begins with identifying and detailing the most important player in the game, the one who is going to "live" in this house you're designing and building. (And no, it's not you, your business, nor your marketing manager).
It's your target audience or "ideal buyer."
Note that I didn't say "current-customers-you-serve." It is entirely possible that your ideal buyer matches your current customer base, and if so, that's fine. BUT, if you have your eye on another target audience, perhaps a bigger fish in the pond, that's what I'm referring to here.
Identifying your ideal buyer = the customers you want to be buying your services or products.
After all, your marketing blueprint is going to give you the details to build a house for these ideal buyers...the last thing you want to do is design (and build) an ill-fitting house for them! If you do, what you'll find is that they'll move out, unsubscribe, and go elsewhere as soon as possible.
3 areas to consider when defining your ideal customer(s):
Demographics
- Age range/gender
- Marital status/kids
- Annual household income
- Where do they live?
- Level of education completed?
Interests
- What do they want?
- What is their lifestyle like?
-What is their ideal success?
-Who or what influences their decisions?
Experiences
- Have they tried to fix this problem before and failed?
-Have they had a bad experience with competitors' products?
-How does purchasing your product or using your service make them feel?
If you are able to nail down the answers to the questions above, then you'll have a much clearer understanding about your prospects' needs and states-of-mind.
And by intimately understanding your ideal buyers' needs and the kinds of solutions they're looking for; you are better poised to communicate your value to them in a way that they’ll listen to.
Don't forget to get the how-to guide to creating your Marketing Blueprint completely FREE:
MARKETING BLUEPRINT
Laying the Foundation (Craft the Brand Voice)
When I talk about "creating the foundation" for your marketing blueprint, I'm talking about your brand voice and messaging. Because no matter how well-designed your strategy (or "house") may be, if your brand's voice and messaging is off (your "foundation"), everything crumbles.
So, it better be strong.
In my agency's proprietary process, the Marketing RAMP™, we call this "Crafting the Brand Voice." And yes, identifying your brand's voice does include the tone your company conveys, but it goes much, much deeper than that.
A well-defined brand voice encompasses all aspects of your business and provides prospects and customers with a consistent and recognizable experience.
Many factors go into crafting a brand voice that connects with strangers and inspires long-term customer loyalty. When we help our clients craft their brand's voice, we include 4 pillars, outlined below.
PILLAR 1
Company Core Purpose
First things first, your company's core purpose does NOT mean, "your company's vision for itself"...
It means: Your brand's purpose in your prospect's lives.
Remember, no matter what we're talking about, in every step in your marketing blueprint, you never want to lose sight of what's most important -- creating a house your ideal customer wants to live in.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself when establishing your company's core purpose:
Once you know your company's core purpose in your ideal buyers' lives, your brand's voice and messaging fall in line much more easily.
PILLAR 2
Customer Alignment
Customer alignment means your prospect perceives that you're both working toward the same goal. They feel as if your values are on the same track as theirs, and because of such, they're more than happy to do business with you. In fact, they feel good about it.
When you create a marketing blueprint based on your customers' expectations, you'll find that it's much easier to get your messaging and brand experience aligned with your customers.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself to figure out where you and your customers are most aligned:
That last question: "what proof do you have to offer? " Is a great one to consider.
Showcasing guarantees, warranties and transparent social proof, such as testimonials, success stories, and case studies, are some of the most effective ways to establish trust and alignment.
PILLAR 3
Customer Transformation
This concept of customer transformation is essential to your brand messaging as it shows what your prospect "gets" out of doing business with you. And there are 2 parts to it.
The first part is simply defining what "great evil" your customers overcome when they use your product or service.
This "success story" of customer transformation can be one of the more powerful tools in your messaging toolbox; so, you want to be sure to communicate it to your prospects at multiple touchpoints.
Here are a few questions to help define your customer transformation:
The second part to the customer transformation arc is digging into the process of what it takes to get them from zero to hero.
It's taking that story of transformation and breaking it down into digestible steps.
Essentially, what is the process of doing business with you? What is required to get your prospect from struggling with their problem to happily on the other side of it with the help of your company's product or service?
No matter how complex, multi-layered or long-in-duration your process is, unless you're writing a tech sheet or white paper, you should define your process as simply as possible.
At my agency, we like to see where we can break down the process into 3 steps, all while using language that paints a positive picture. Ideally, Step 3 describes your customer experiencing success.
To illustrate what I mean, please see the image below taken from a website we built for one of our past clients, American Academy of Martial Arts.
Notice the headline describes how easy the process is. Next, the 3 steps break down the process clearly, making it easy for parents to understand exactly how their child (and themselves!) will benefit from doing karate with the American Academy of Martial Arts in particular. Finally, the obvious CTA "Try a Free Class," tells their audience exactly what to do to get started.
PILLAR 4
Your Secret Sauce
Now that we've established your company's purpose in your customers' lives, how to find alignment with them, and how to demonstrate how you help them in their personal transformation...the final pillar of crafting your brand voice comes back to focus on your brand, and its "secret sauce" if you will. This is what makes you unique and what sets your offerings apart from your competition.
Here are a few questions to help you nail down your secret sauce:
Get everything covered in this article as a downloadable how-to guide by clicking the button below:
MARKETING BLUEPRINT
Designing the House (Mapping the Customer Journey)
Now, we're ready to design the house. Not build it, mind you, just designing it at this point.
This final step in this marketing blueprint training is known as mapping the customer journey.
This is where the microscopic examination occurs. This deep dive is necessary because it's how you close the most common gaps in marketing strategies that result in prospects and money going down the drain.
You'll want to first divide the customer journey into stages (such as, New Lead, Unqualified, or Past Customer), and then you'll want to examine each of those stages carefully. What action do you want to happen in each stage? And what is your prospect or customer expecting to happen?
By mapping out your customer journey with this much detail, you'll be better positioned to deliver specific value based on where your customer is and what actions they've taken or haven't taken.
Here are some questions to ask yourself when mapping out your customer journey:
Mapping the entirety of the customer journey is a lot of work, but it's vital for continued, scalable success.
And the payoff is huge.
You get a marketing blueprint that details the house your prospects, current customers, and past customers want to live in and it gives your team everything they need to build every part of it. That means the right tools, timeline and strategy to build an airtight marketing machine that converts.
As I've mentioned, the 3 steps detailed in this article are an abridged version of my proprietary process, the Marketing RAMP™ (something we refer to as the RAMP Lite). If you're interested to learn more or have us do all the work for you, schedule a call with me or my team to get your questions answered.
Remember, the best marketing blueprint in the world is only as good as the team that's building the house, so if you want an award-winning agency like ours either directing the construction or doing the building itself, book your free consult by clicking this link.
Don't forget to get the how-to guide to creating your Marketing Blueprint completely FREE:
