How do you create a business services marketing plan that engages your target audience?

I’ve found in numerous situations that a combination of PESTEL with Porter 5 Forces tend to be quite robust tools for this type of analysis.

A great to to conduct a market analysis is to collect as much data you can in a Google doc from competitors, sometimes I create a 150+ pages market analysis doc. Then I leverage ChatGPT plugins like "TalkWithPDF" to ask questions about the market and to create the full analysis with the leverage of AI.

Leverage market research tools and methods (such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter's five forces, 5 Why, Surveys, etc. ), to get the following - - Understand the market pain points - Map competitor's landscape and untouched area - Create minimum 4-5 user personas and user journey - Make a product market fit hypothesis and keep re-visiting it unless you find these five things - a) who will use your product, b) what is your value proposition for the user, c) who will be your buyer/payer, d) what will they pay you for, and e) What will be your price point. All of this will help you in formulating a robust marketing strategy.

Marketing is an ongoing process that requires adaptability and a deep understanding of your audience's evolving needs. By continuously refining your business services marketing plan based on feedback and results, you can engage your target audience effectively and drive business growth: 1. Know Your Audience 2. Set Clear Goals 3. Segment Your Audience 4. Create Buyer Personas 5. Craft a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) 6. Choose the Right Marketing Channels 7. Content Marketing 8. Optimize for SEO 9. Leverage Social Media 10. Email Marketing 11. Measure and Analyze Results 12. Feedback and Adaptation 13. Consistency and Branding 14. Provide Value First 15. Test and Experiment 16. Budget Wisely 17. Long-term Perspective

First, I would conduct in-depth market research to understand the competitive landscape, identify target customer segments, and uncover their key pain points. For B2B services, this may involve interviewing prospects, surveying customers, analyzing industry reports, and reviewing case studies. Porter 5 Forces tend to be quite robust tools for this type of analysis.

Clearly define your marketing goals and objectives and you must quantify them. You should have a tracking mechanism in place which tracks, measures, analyses the outcomes which are being generated through various marketing campaigns. The team should be very clear on the goals and objectives, and with this they will be in a better position to amend the campaigns to get better results.

I agree with everything put to you in this element. There is no offering that isn't what millions have done before you and brought success to each of them. But, know this: no-one in the world will care about your goals, objectives, plans or service. Not one person. Customers are only interested in how 'what you do' will add value to their life, business or what they do. So before you spend hours deciding what YOU want and writing it down to blindly act upon; think long and hard about how what YOU do, brings value of some sort to ME. View your business trhough the eyes of your customers ... first.

Next, I would define clear marketing objectives and goals tied to business outcomes. For example, increase brand awareness by 15% in 6 months or generate 50 new qualified leads per month. Having measurable goals is crucial.

The essence of a vivid blueprint of your Marketing goals and objectives cannot be overemphasized. Without clear goals and objectives, we cannot pursue the results we seek with our marketing efforts. With our goals in sight and in a specific manner with clear timelines backed by the needed metrics to track and analyze key result areas (KRAs), we can connect, convince, engage, and drive our target market toward conversion.

In marketing, setting SMART goals aligned with market trends and customer needs is key. Regularly change your strategy based on performance data to stay agile and effective, ensuring growth and a deeper customer understanding. Keep your focus sharp, your approach adaptable, and your results measurable.

Forgive us all ... sometimes we get wrapped up in complex language, to make ourselves seem more useful, smarter than we are. 'Experts' (me included) have been doing this for decades. The relaity is that business is not more comlpicated than understanding it is two or more people, having a conversation about making a trade. In the intro statement of this section ... following the clever names, phrases etc ... the summary sentence says it all very clearly, very simply and anyone can understand "For example, your strategy could be to position yourself as a trusted advisor and partner for your clients, and your tactics could be to offer customized and flexible solutions, competitive pricing, online and offline channels, and content marketing."

My marketing strategy would focus on education, relationship-building, and conveying thought leadership. I would develop content like eBooks, webinars, and blog posts that provide value and establish expertise. Outbound campaigns and social media would amplify this content. Relationship-nurturing via ongoing valuable interactions is critical for B2B services.

Process: Begin with the end in mind, reverse engineer your customer journey, and then walk through it as if you are a potential customer. At each step - from awareness to purchase - work to be clear, build trust, and eliminate friction. Channels: You want to be seen in places your ideal customers already use so they can "trip over you" and start to see how useful your products or services could be in solving a problem they have. Champions: Don't forget to activate your advocates. Start by asking past customers for reviews or testimonials. Then, reach out to business allies who are also in contact with your ideal clients and ask for referrals.

I align with the school of thought that perceives strategy as the blueprint and the up-to of integrating a set of choices in a very differentiated way that helps you win with your brand (its product/services) regardless of the competition. It is from this standpoint that the place of your unique value position (UVP) becomes very relevant in framing your next set of actions (tactics) that will ensure and guide how you connect, engage, and drive your communication persuasively at all touchpoints in your bid to win your share of the market. This eventually influences your messaging (content design and creative approach), choice of channels, and budgetary allocation in executing your marketing campaigns in a way that sets you apart.

Start by developing a clear marketing strategy based on in-depth market research. Understand your audience's needs, preferences, motivations and behaviours to define your unique value proposition. Next, outline your marketing objectives and set measurable SMART goals. For tactics, leverage a mix of digital marketing tools such as SEO, content marketing, email campaigns, and social media to reach and engage your audience effectively. Personalize your messaging and offers to increase relevance and response rates. Always test different approaches to refine your tactics, ensuring they align with overall business goals. Regularly monitor & evaluate the results to adapt and improve your strategy continuously.

In the beginning (it does get more crucial & complicated at which point get an accountant), do you have enough money (from a source) to allow you to do all that you have planned to until customers start to contribute funds? Things won't go as planned or expected ... have you got access to a bit more financial resource? If not, adjust that plan early. Address financial 'gaps' early. At the beginning, nothing is more important than those first few customer contributions, until they flow you have no business and your plan doesn't matter above all all else. Just my opinion of course, but I have lived it for a while.

Use a budget tracker to plan and monitor budget on regular basis. Some popular marketing budget software solutions: 1. Paid solutions - HubSpot Marketing Hub, Workday Adaptive Planning, ActiveCollab, FunctionFox etc. 2. Free Solutions - Create your own using Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. Also, many free downloadable marketing budget templates are available online to use as a starting point. For eg., HubSpot has a free Google Sheet template online.

The marketing mix may include content marketing, social media, paid search, retargeting ads, direct mail, email campaigns, referrals, tradeshows, and PR. I would ensure seamless omni-channel experiences. Budgets and timelines need to be defined for each initiative based on resources, capacity, and priorities.

Ideally you need to setup an annual, monthly and weekly budget and review it on the regular basis based on business objectives and campaign performance. Ideally you need to have 360 plan for each campaign making sure your message and marketing effort are consistent. Don't forget to keep seasonality factor in mind. Also remember that you should cover owned, shared and earned media. For digital campaigns you can clearly define to whom and when to show your message and you can control your daily budget.

Factor different platforms for your marketing needs and then build a diversified marketing plan that is budgeted across different platforms. 1-2 platforms may not give you the desired result and hence, you may be required to go to more than 2 platforms. Having a firm timeline is important to track outcomes.

All of the article element is correct, it's good advice & I support it. After you have completed all of those evaluations, the only one that counts is Revenue & profit.You see, its' possible to draw positive conclusions about your marketing and 'its' success. But, entirely possible for you to get to those conclusions & achieve zero revenue ... you will then find yourself justifying your 'marketing success' and spending hours tweaking things, doing more this & less that ... Did your marketimg generate revenue? The same goes for exhibition participation. The world over salespeople justify to senior leadership why it was & must remain an investment. The leads, contacts, PR, awareness, yet ... time after time, sales are not seen as a result.

Based on the campaign performance you may decide to change the message or communication channel or call to action. Ideally you need to follow the KPIs on daily, weekly and monthly bases and be able to make necessary changes ASAP. Sometimes ROI of the campaign is difficult to calculate because it may have longterm impact. In this case the advertiser should monitor such KPIs as number of leads, conversion rate etc. and compare them with initially established targets.

Continuously monitoring performance through metrics like web traffic, leads generated, and sales pipeline growth allows optimizing efforts. Surveys can gauge brand awareness and satisfaction. Adjustments may be required based on data insights.

Monitor and review your marketing plans depending on the needs of the project. it can be daily, weekly, fortnightly or even monthly etc. Analyze the data obtained from monitoring and evaluate it as per the original requirement and plan. You will get the required insights to steer the direction of the campaign in the area of better results.

Great points here. I totally agree with all the points raised. With the innovations brought about by AI, managing CRM have become a lot easier and interesting.

A solid marketing plan is shaped by a strong understanding of customer’s problems, along with the ability to articulate when and how they experience their problems. Ultimately conveying how your organization will solve them. Unfortunately marketing executives can sometimes make the mistake of creating solutions based solely on assumptions. Taking the time to analyze quantitive data as well as conduct qualitative analysis through interviews, observations, focus groups, and conversations; and then listening to what customers reveal, allows us to see patterns and trends of pervasive problems that actually exist, instead of guessing. Only then can you truly create effective marketing plans.

If you are startup or small company, you may not have any marketing budget at all, or a very limited one. This is where creativity is crucial. You must find ways to market and gain attention for your product without dollars. This is where lessons are learned that can help build a better strategy once you have an actual budget!

I would say that the preceding 5 points are fine, but to ensure an "engaging" marketing plan, our research/insight generation must focus on the challenge or pain point that our service caters to. In addition, where in the customer journey do we want to communicate with our target audience. The first will help us ensure our brand/service and the allied marketing programs fit in best and resonate with the customer's problem and the second guides us on when and where to communicate for maximum impact. Once we have these in place, there is a high probability of having a plan which engages successfully with the customer.

Differentiation. Thats been the secret sauce that propelled our business success. Many of the thoughts provided are extraordinary helpful. However, to answer the latter part of the original question “to attract customers” these customers need to know how you are different and relevant. To know this you MUST know your competition, what they offer and importantly what you do they don’t or what in your estimation they offer that doesn’t work or is just plain bogus. Make a BIG point of what you find as a central part of your marketing strategy, assuming of course you have the chops to deliver.

To get the biggest bang for your bucks is to hire someone who has a successful lead magnet and conversion rate in your niche to market for you. They should be able to add your flavor to the marketing so that it's easily represented by you and your team. Having a marketing professional or team will be well worth the investment because it will provide a higher ROI and preferably quicker than doing it yourself. If you negotiate and set the correct budgets to yield the revenue, it will be a win-win for both. Without marketing and sales, you will not have a business, so these things are truly important.