This is not the last day of the year. That is tomorrow. This is not the first day of the year. That is two days from now. This is actually the day before the last day, which makes it a rather nondescript, ordinary day. But ordinary days are where the groundwork is laid for the great days, especially in marketing.

A lot of times, we think of marketing as being flashy. We think of clever ads, engaging videos, great websites and anything that will attract the attention of our customers. But the best days of marketing are the ordinary days when you lay out the strategy for your marketing. Think of the most creative marketing you have seen. Before the best ideas came about, there were goals established to reach a specific target market. The creativity came about in trying to figure out and understand the best way to engage them. Those ads weren’t created just to look good. They were created to reach a specific audience and to achieve a goal.

Meeting your marketing goals

What kind of goals are you trying to meet with your marketing? Typical marketing goals fall into three categories:

1. Expand the awareness of a brand so that more people in a target market know it by name.

2. Get consumers to try your brand for the first time.

3. Get your customers to buy from you again and become loyal to your brand.

Let’s take a look at each of these goals.

Expand the awareness of your brand

No one will buy from you unless they know what you’re selling. It is not enough for people to know who you are, but they need to understand what you can do for them. In other words, they have to understand what your brand stands for. Typically brands are promoted heavily to consumers who fall into a company’s target market. They tend to stay away from any marketing to those outside of it. For instance, if your business has to do with shipping goods, you would probably recognize the U-Line brand that sells boxes and packaging materials. They have marketed their products to anyone who incorporates logistics into their business. However, there are some businesses that have taken a different approach to their brand awareness marketing efforts. They have marketed their brand outside of their targeted market. They have a goal of being a household name without any regard for consumers in or out of their target. An example of this would be Boeing, the aerospace manufacturer. I am not in the market for a jet, but I know who Boeing is and what they produce. Why is it important that they be known by everyone? They are marketing more than sales of jets. They are marketing a company who wants to be a leader in their industry, who needs to employ large groups of people and who have a worldwide presence. Decisions on their products and manufacturing methods are regulated by governments and government officials are elected by people. They need to be known.

Awareness goals need to match what you are trying to achieve as a company. That may be more than just sales of your products and services.

Getting consumers to try your brand

If awareness was all there was to marketing, marketing would be easy. The most preposterous ads, the funniest videos, the most outlandish websites, signage and packaging would be all that needed to happen in marketing. However, marketing does not stop with awareness. (If yours does, you need to rethink your strategy.) Getting consumers to try a brand for the first time is one of the hardest goals to achieve in marketing and it takes precise planning to make it work. It involves an understanding of what your target market is thinking, where they have unmet needs or are feeling pain. IT involves how you can position your brand to align with their thinking, at the moment they are feeling distress, and how it solves their problem. After you have convinced them to try your brand, you then have to back all of this up with real results, show how your brand is a better solution than your competitor’s brand, and convince the consumer it is worth the price you are charging them. None of that can be done on a whim. You have to make your marketing work to gain customers for the first time.

There are some common methods used in marketing to get a first time sale from a consumer. Discounts or loss leaders have been effectively used for years, as have free samples of a brand. (Remember back when you could get a free cell phone if you signed up with a wireless carrier?) However, most of the first time sales marketing methods have to do with removing barriers and convincing consumers that your brand will truly help them. Marketing needs to focus on these two aspects of the customer relationship.

Get your customers to buy from you again

This is where we create loyal, lifetime customers who are so sold on your brand that they start to recommend it to others. How do you do that? First, by offering them something new. This keeps them engaged with you. If you are selling them the same products and services over and over, it will lose its luster after awhile. Rebranding can help that. So can improvements in your product offerings. This is the strategy car manufacturers have been using for the past hundred years. They learned a long time ago that they had to make their own products obsolete after a few years to keep loyal customers coming back again and again. Second, by rewarding them for their loyalty. We all like to be recognized as being important. What is more important to a business than a loyal customer? Asking them their opinion helps. Giving them breaks on pricing does more. That is why loyalty programs have been so successful in retaining customers.

What would it take for your customers to return to you for another sale? Make this a part of your marketing strategy.

This is the day before the last day of the year. It is rather ordinary, unless you take the time to strategize for the new year. Make this an extraordinary day with your marketing planning.