For all intents and purposes, and to the chagrin of many marketing professors, the two most effective skills that a marketing professional should possess cannot be taught in classrooms. Nor can they be developed simply from reading marketing books for that matter.
As any true marketing professional would attest, the two most effective and therefore—most important marketing skills that a marketing professional should possess are: (1) Having a comprehensive understanding of their target audience. (2) Having the natural instincts to effectively communicate with that audience in order to influence them to take a desired action.
Nevertheless, in order to become a truly exceptional marketer, it is a must that you do learn many of the practices that are actually taught in marketing classes as well as in marketing books.
One of those practices is the understanding of just what goes into creating a great marketing strategy. But in order to create a great strategy, you must begin by determining which tactics to apply in order to ensure your strategy will be a success.
The tactic
Obviously, there are many layers that go into creating a digital marketing strategy that will yield optimal results. And regardless of if your startup has a huge digital marketing budget like some of the larger startups in Silicon Valley; i.e., DoorDash.
Or if your startup is working within the confines of a bootstrapped budget, like most are; one of the very first actions that should be taken when devising a digital marketing strategy is to conduct a cultural assessment of both your brand—and more importantly, its target audience.
A cultural assessment consists of taking a hard look at startup's business and brand objectives for the campaign. It also involves analyzing your target audience and which components of their particular culture you could utilize in a way that’ll resonate with them. And which to avoid so that you won’t bore or offend them.
“Understand the culture of your business. Is it sales-focused or brand-focused? Is it a creative organization or analytical? Is the company a risk-taker or focused on brand safety? These factors amongst others will determine how you approach and position your strategy to your internal audience.” States author and marketing consultant, Simon Kingnorth, in the second edition of his book, Digital Marketing Strategy.
Why the need for a cultural assessment?
Scheduled to set sail in Caribbean waters in January of 2024, Royal Caribbean's, “International Icon of The Seas,” will officially become the world’s biggest cruise ship. The cruise ship, which will reportedly be five times the size of the RMS Titanic, is 365 meters (1200 feet long) and will hold up to 5,610 passengers and 2,350 crew members.
What’s more, the vessel will also have six waterslides, seven swimming pools, along with a five-deck-high open-air “Central Park” that’ll contain living plant walls.
Needless to say, pre-order ticket sales (the lowest costing $1,851) to be one of the first passengers to set sail on the ship have been record-breaking. However, just imagine that if in the weeks leading to the ship making its first open voyage, Royal Caribbean announced that the International Icon of The Seas would not have a predetermined destination when it set sail.
Not only that, imagine if Royal Caribbean also announced that admission on the voyage would be totally free for passengers on a first come, first served basis so that anyone off the street could come aboard. Do you think the voyage would still be appealing to Royal Caribbean’s current affluent ideal customers? Of course not!
Well, that is exactly how your brand’s target customers will feel about your brand if your digital marketing efforts don't include a cultural assessment prior to completing it.
Cultural assessments help ensure that the focus of your marketing strategy remains on your startup’s ultimate objectives for your overall campaign. In other words, it helps state where your campaign is going, how to get there, and what people should be part of the ride in order to make it the most successful trip possible.
Let’s complete your startup's digital marketing strategy
We help not only conduct cultural assessments for our startup clients, we also create complete and effective digital marketing strategies that connects their brand to their ideal customers.
Contact us to schedule a client meeting so that together, we can ensure that your startup will reach its desired destination.