Have you ever embarked on a dream vacation to an exciting destination? Unless you’re of the Thelma and Louise ilk, chances are you did a bit of diligent planning ahead of such an endeavor.
After all, you probably had an idea of where you wanted to go, how you planned on getting there, and how much it would cost. Marketing your business or organization isn’t much different, and it all starts with an effective, strategic tool we call a Business MAP.
What is a Business MAP?
A concept uniquely designed and developed by Signalfire’s team of creative marketing pros, the term Business MAP refers to a Marketing Assessment and Plan (MAP for short).
It’s a process of gathering business intelligence data and combining it with our creative expertise to assist clients in the tourism/destination marketing, nonprofit management, and manufacturing industries.
Essentially, it’s our way of listening to your wants and needs, researching your competitive landscape, and recommending effective strategies to help you accomplish your business goals.
This process involves identifying specific, creative, digital and traditional marketing tactics to place you in front of your target audience.
Then – if you’d like – we can execute that strategy for you!
So…Why Do You Need It?
It’s all about results. Scientifically speaking, those who plan ahead and set goals are much more likely to succeed. And if you’re busy running your business, it can be difficult to also find the time to keep track of current marketing tactics and trends.
Let’s return to the vacation analogy. Imagine you’d like to go someplace really amazing like Hawaii or Cabo or Jamaica (the cold Wisconsin weather is getting to us…can you tell?).
When planning large trips like these, it can be beneficial to talk to a travel planner. These agencies have connections, information, and insight that aren’t easy to come by as a consumer.
Plus – they take the pressure of planning every detail of your trip off your shoulders, so you can relax, lay out in the sun, and sip Mai Thais.
A Business MAP by Signalfire operates in much the same way. We provide you with an assessment of your current marketing efforts and help to determine the best way for you to market your company, in order to achieve your short- and long-term goals.
How’s that sound for weight off your shoulders? One less thing to worry about, right?
Signalfire’s Business MAP Process
Now, your next thought might be, “this sounds intriguing, but what would the process look like?”
Well, we start by assessing your industry, gauging your audience perception, and putting together a plan to get you moving in the right direction. Some of the main benefits include:
- Uncovering industry/competitor insights
- Deciding the direction to take your brand
- Ensuring brand strategy aligns with your brand identity
- Determining competitive advantages
- Reducing your marketing budget waste with improved methods of targeting
The combination of all these things, paired with effective communication at all times, will enable your marketing efforts to no longer feel like shots in the dark. They will be focused, efficient, and save you from aimless spending.
All that to be said, here is what a typical Business MAP process looks like for our clients.
1. MARKETING ASSESSMENT
Listening
At Signalfire, every client relationship starts with a conversation. One of our primary goals is simply to listen to you. This helps us get to know you and your business/organization, so we can be as helpful to you as possible.
Getting an idea of what you’re looking for is important, as is giving you a chance to ask us questions upfront to ensure we’re a great fit to work with your company.
Goal-Setting & Budget Determination
Now, it’s time to chart your destination. We will ask you to do a bit of soul searching when looking to set your goals and budget.
We can certainly provide suggestions or feedback, but your goals/budget really depend on your own vision for the future of your business or organization. It’s critical that you are comfortable with developing SMART goals throughout this step, as this is a fundamental element of successful marketing.
Need some inspiration? Here’s a great video on the power of goal-setting for achieving success…
Built-In Flexibility
At Signalfire, we’re very flexible and able accommodate various ranges of budget, involvement, and marketing execution for our clients. Our aim is to be a supportive resource to help fuel your success.
We integrate this flexibility into every step of your marketing action plan – from assessment to execution. Our team understands that running your business/organization demands much of your time, energy, and brainpower and will ensure the best forms of communication are utilized.
2. COMPETITIVE EVALUATION
Industry & Competitive Research
Once we’ve had the chance to learn about your goals, budget, target community, and culture, we begin our assessment of your industry and competitors.
By digging deeper into your marketing landscape, we can be sure to avoid developing similar messaging, brand style, and voice. After all, we want you to stand out from the crowd – not just be another face.
Client Validation
Before we move forward, we’ll present you with our competitive/industry findings. This gives us a chance to communicate our thoughts on your competitive landscape, as well as hear your insider’s perspective on our analysis.
Once we are both heading in the same direction for your marketing plan, we can begin developing an effective strategy for your unique business/organization.
3. PROPOSAL OF STRATEGIES & TACTICS
Suggest
We get really excited about this part of the process. Mostly, because we get to brainstorm some truly creative ideas and find strategic methods of executing them to align with your goals/budget.
This challenging balance is why we get up in the morning. It’s why we got into this business. Our industry experience, paired with our creative talent, can help us come up with not just big ideas for your company, but also the right ideas.
Revise
Once we’ve brainstormed and collaboratively developed a winning combination of strategies and tactics, we’ll place them in a formal proposal to go over with you.
If you’ve noticed a pattern, it’s that we want to keep our clients involved in our process to ensure everything is fully understood and adapted to meet your expectations. Communicating openly and honestly is key.
Refine
Upon listening to your feedback and taking it to heart, our team will then apply it to the current proposal. This could involve adding or removing certain media channels, messaging, or volume of services to better suit what you’re looking for.
4. EXECUTION
And now for the really fun part – putting your marketing action plan into, well…action! With a fully approved and signed proposal, you’ll be ready to start rolling out your new campaigns.
As far as our involvement goes, it’s entirely up to you. We can move forward by working alongside your own internal marketing staff by supplementing services you don’t have the bandwidth to perform…or we can execute the entire plan.
Once again, we’re flexible and accommodating to your needs. When you succeed, we succeed.
Interested in Developing a Business MAP?
So…are you ready to start planning your company’s marketing journey? At Signalfire, we’ve designed, developed, and executed effective marketing action plans for a variety of businesses and organizations.
We are a creative branding and website design agency that excels in developing cohesive strategies of traditional and digital marketing to meet your goals within your budget.
Our services include award-winning brand, logo, and website design, as well as integrated marketing plans, featuring:
If you’re interested in learning more about how our team of creative professionals can help take your marketing efforts to new heights, please feel free to contact us today, or speak with one of our team members at 262-725-4500.
And hey – with Signalfire as a creative partner, you might even be able to take that big vacation you’ve always dreamed of. Drinks with umbrellas all around!