Market Assessment

Business Objectives and Strategy

Marketing Communications Mix

Marketing Plan Implementation and Controls

Strategic Marketing
Communications Plan

DesignHub can help you plan a complete marketing campaign—from initial strategy and concepts to full implementation and ongoing monitoring of results.

The process described below can vary, of course, depending on your specific situation. And it might look a bit intimidating at first glance. But it doesn't need to be. For one client with an urgent need, we recently conducted a quick marketing communications audit and proposed the basic framework and essential strategic elements of a new marketing communications plan in under two business days.

We can't guarantee the same speedy result in every situation, but we can assure you we'll move promptly and decisively to help you meet your marketing challenges.

Here, in simplified form, is our marketing communications planning process.

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Market Assessment

We begin with a situation analysis, which provides the strategic foundation of your marketing communications plan. We examine:

• The scope of your products and services—your "field of play."
• Your sales channels and typical sales cycle.
• A profile of your targeted customer, whether you sell to consumers or other businesses. (Example: In B2B, we focus on understanding the customer's location, industry, company, title, function, responsibilities, challenges, and "pains.")
• Your value proposition. Why should your targeted customer care about what you offer? What are the key benefits? What problems do you help your customer solve? How do you improve your customer's life?
• The size of your market and the significant trends affecting it.
• The competitive alternatives your customer can choose from.
• Your competitive strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

We also ask you these important questions:

Do your targeted customers need to be educated about the value of your product or service? Or is your customer choosing between known alternatives?

This helps us determine whether you should aim to build the whole market for your category of product or service, or whether you should instead focus on building preference within that market for your particular brand.

What prevents sales of your product or service?

This is usually a matter of awareness, usage, or frequency. Your targeted customers might simply not be aware of what you offer. Or maybe they're aware, but they haven't used your product or service because they don't perceive the critical value of it. Or perhaps they've tried your product or service, but they haven't continued with it because they perceive a problem in its utility or ease of use.

Getting answers to these questions helps us identify the marketing approaches, messages, methods, and tools that will most effectively address your strategic business goals.

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Business Objectives and Strategy

In DesignHub's view, the central mission of marketing communications isn't just to give you smooth verbiage and pretty pictures (although we can certainly provide those!). Our main goal, rather, is to help you find, win, and grow profitable customer relationships. Thus, your marketing communications plan should be primarily judged by how well it supports your overall business development objectives.

From the start of the planning process, we seek to understand not only your targets for sales, profits, and market share growth, but also your strategic business goal. What market segment can you dominate? In what market niche can you be recognized as the leader? What position of value can you own in your customer's mind?

The answers to these fundamental questions of business strategy provide essential direction for your marketing communications plan.

Marketing Communications Strategy

Now, with a clear understanding of your market situation and business objectives, we lay out the basic framework for your marketing communications program. We propose precisely how you can use the tools of marketing communications to help you:

• Position your company, product, or service for competitive advantage.
• Build a unique and unforgettable brand image.
• Increase your targeted market's awareness of you (or defend the position of market leadership you've already won).
• Identify and qualify your best prospects for new business relationships.
• Provide sales collateral and other sales tools that build your customer's vision of a solution and provide proof of your capabilities and successful performance.
• Retain and grow your current customer relationships.

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Marketing Communications Mix

Here we get into the nitty-gritty -- your recommended line-up of specific marketing communications methods. And we show how each method will be used to help you nurture a new customer relationship, step by step, from initial identification and qualification through long-lasting retention and growth.

The elements of your marketing communications mix can include:

• Corporate identity (consistent logos, messages, graphic presentation, etc.)
• Design of product packaging
• Publicity
• Advertising
• Direct mail and e-mail
• Trade shows and other industry events
• A capabilities brochure, "Solutions Guide," or other key sales collateral
• Product demonstrations
• Telemarketing
• Sales seminars
• Customer case studies
• Product specifications sheets
• A customer newsletter, both printed and online
• A website keyed not only to information fulfillment, but also to customer support, online commerce, personalization, and community
• User conferences, executive forums, and other customer-focused events

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Marketing Plan Implementation and Controls

Working within your resource limits, we can help you develop a prioritized marketing communications budget and a realistic schedule of activities. At all times, we remain committed to staying within your budget and meeting your deadlines.

It's our belief that marketing communications planning should be a dynamic process, not a static document. That is, it should provide for easy tracking and reporting of results toward objectives, and should allow for corrective actions as needed.

Another way of putting it: Your marketing communications planning doesn't end with the plan. Instead we propose an evolutionary process of periodic re-evaluation and adjustment, with an eye toward taking advantage of new opportunities as they emerge.

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