AIDA model explained: Examples and tips for using this strategic marcomms planning model the real world
The AIDA model, tracing the customer journey through Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action, is perhaps the best-known marketing model amongst all the classic marketing models.
Many marketers find AIDA useful since we apply this model daily, whether consciously or subconsciously, when we're planning our marketing communications strategy.
What is the AIDA model?
The AIDA Model identifies cognitive stages an individual goes through during the buying process for a product or service. It's a purchasing funnel where buyers go to and fro at each stage, to support them in making the final purchase.
It's no longer a relationship purely between the buyer and the company since social media has extended it to achieving the different goals of AIDA via information added by other customers via social networks and…
7 steps to creating an effective marketing plan for businesses of all sizes
A marketing plan is a bit like a job description for your company. Everyone should have one, but they’re often not fit for purpose, out of date, and reviewed infrequently...
Research has shown that businesses with plans succeed, outperform competitors, and retain staff, more than those with no plan.
Without a plan there’s no direction for the company or its employees, decisions can be uninformed, opportunities can be missed and threats can damage or destroy the business.
Whether you are looking at creating a traditional marketing plan or a multichannel digital marketing plan, we've got resources to help you.
Free marketing plan template aimed at small businesses
In this article, Annmarie Hanlon recommends 7 simple steps for structuring a classic marketing plan. But for an SME or SMB, you need a little more detail about prioritizing your investment of time and…
An example of reviewing your marketing capabilities using the McKinsey 7S framework
The McKinsey 7S model is a useful framework for reviewing an organization’s marketing capabilities from different viewpoints. Developed by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman during their tenure at McKinsey & Company in the 1970s, this model works well in different types of business of all sectors and sizes, although it works best in medium and large businesses.
The 7S model can be used to:
Review the effectiveness of an organization in its marketing operations.
Determine how to best realign an organization to support a new strategic direction.
Assess the changes needed to support digital transformation of an organization.
What are the elements of the McKinsey 7S model?
In summary, the McKinsey 7Ss stand for:
Strategy: The definition of key approaches for an organization to achieve its goals.
Structure: The…
Use our simple, 15 section download to quickly create a marketing plan for your business
Many marketing plan templates you will find online were created long ago for larger businesses and aren’t so relevant to small and startup business competing in today’s marketplace where effective digital marketing is essential. Long plans with sections labelled ‘mission and vision statement’ and ‘corporate strategies’ are irrelevant for smaller businesses. The template we recommend in this post is far more practical since it relates to the real-world challenges and opportunities of a small business.
In this post, we'll recommend what needs to go into a marketing plan and how to structure it. At the end of the article we link to a Word document you can download to write your own plan.
What is a marketing plan?
A marketing plan is an essential tool to compete and grow your business since it gives focus to your marketing activities…
Using the RACE OSA process to structure a marketing plan
A marketing plan is an essential tool to compete and grow your business since it gives focus to your marketing activities by setting realistic, achievable priorities within your budget.
It simply defines what you want to gain from your investment in marketing and how you will achieve these goals through selecting the best marketing strategies and channels to acquire and retain customers.
A typical definition of a marketing plan used by traditional marketers is:
"A marketing plan is a strategic document that specifies your organization’s target markets, marketing objectives, programs, and activities to achieve them, expected timescales, resources to be utilized, according to defined budgets, and how success will be measured".
This is logical and simple and that's what we need to achieve through the structure of an effective marketing plan. However, for today's marketing where digital marketing channels are so important we need a…
Discover our top 7 recommended different types of marketing plan options for developing and streamlining your marketing planning activities
Planning is a must for any business that wants to succeed, but choosing the right type of plan to define your strategy and structuring it can be difficult. Especially since there are so many different types of marketing plan within marketing and business, all with a different scope.
The challenge is compounded if you are new to creating plans, or to the culture of planning within a business. It seems that the difficulty of choosing the right type of plan and how to structure it to deliver results stops many in their tracks.
Our research shows that, shockingly, as many as half of businesses don't have a digital marketing plan or, perhaps worse, a marketing plan on which to base it.
Our free marketing plan template structured around RACE,…
How to use Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning (STP) to develop marketing strategies
Today, the STP marketing model (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning) is a familiar strategic approach in modern marketing. It is one of the most commonly applied marketing models in practice, with marketing leaders crediting it for efficient, streamlined communications practice.
STP marketing focuses on commercial effectiveness, selecting the most valuable segments for a business and then developing a marketing mix and product positioning strategy for each customer group.
As Martech continues to develop, so do opportunities for segmentation, targeting, and positioning. So whether you're brand new to STP or a seasoned veteran, it can be useful to take stock and double-check you're utilizing every chance you get to reach, interact with, convert, and engage customers.
But, how do you know which customer segments to focus on? We recommend using personas to identify your…
Our GTM plan template structured using RACE designed for small businesses and startups
You may have heard people talking about their ‘Go To Market Strategy’ and wondered how this type of plan differs from other classical types of marketing plans. In this article, I’ll explain the purpose of a Go To Market plan and how to structure it using our RACE planning system using our template download and example.
A plan defining your Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy is distinct from other types of business plans because its focus and scope is centred on product launches and introducing products into new markets. In larger businesses, GTM plans are often owned by Product Managers together with marketing managers. In small businesses, it will often be the co-founder, owner or a marketer who creates the GTM plan for investors. Our simple template will suit these type of…
How to use the power of the 70:20:10 rule as a marketing model to prioritize your digital marketing strategy
With new marketing tools and techniques available to us almost daily, it can be difficult to know where to prioritize your marketing activities to get the most 'bang for your buck'. This is where the 70:20:10 rule can really help, since it's a simple device which helps us think through how we prioritize the time and budget we put into different marketing activities.
As marketers, we need to be agile through reacting to new developments in order to gain an upper hand on competitors, but at the same time, we need to avoid being 'technology magpies' following seductive, shiny new tools that may distract us from working on optimizing the most effective channels. By splitting your spending or output into three differently sized areas, it helps you to identify priority areas, and allocate…
9 key differences between strategy vs tactics
‘What is the difference between strategy vs tactics?’ is one of the most common questions that 'crops up' when I’m running training workshops or discussing creating marketing plans with businesses.
It’s no surprise since the difference between these two activities often isn’t distinct. Yet, it’s an important question to answer since our research shows that so many businesses don’t have a clear marketing strategy or plan.
Without a clear strategy, it’s likely some of your tactics may be poorly directed, so may not be propelling the business in the direction needed.
9 key features that distinguish marketing strategy vs tactics
In this article, I will show the difference between strategy and tactics by looking at the characteristics of marketing strategy, which distinguish it from tactics. I’ll give examples that help show the difference between the two based on essential strategic activities.
What's the difference between strategy vs tactics?
Strategy dictates…
