Mastering the Marketing Basics

Kristin McConnell, the marketing director of The Atlantic Club, shares tried-and-true marketing basics that can lead to great results.

Creating a marketing strategy can be overwhelming, especially when starting from scratch. Here are some tried-and-true marketing basics that when mastered can lead to great results: 

Change your language and your mindset. A budget is not a plan. Take a comprehensive view identifying your goals. Recognize what your focus areas are. What percentage are you trying to grow? Are you trying to improve or enhance a part of your funnel? Is there an untapped audience you haven’t gone after yet? Once your goals are clear, develop your strategy for each of these areas and which tactics will support this plan. 

Keep it simple. You do not need to have 50 campaigns which may dilute your efforts, absorb more than necessary resources and overextend your team. Focus on a few high-level campaigns that are well planned out, run for an extended length of time to pick up momentum, gain visibility and build brand awareness. 

Track results. Do not forget to measure campaign performance, collect feedback, and share wins and challenges. Many of us often find ourselves skipping this step as we get rolled right into the next campaign launch — however, this last step is crucial to having your next campaign be successful. 

To be sure you hit and exceed your benchmarks, you must put a number out there. If you see it, you will believe it. And if you believe it, it will happen. 

For example, what is your Marketing Qualified Leads goal number for each of your campaigns? What are your Sales Qualified Leads goals? Do you know your conversion rate? Do you track your wins and celebrate your achievements? 

Marketing is all about questions — ones that lead you down a path to pivot when necessary to stay on track.   

Master these basics, and you are well on your way to marketing success.