11 Critical Questions for Marketing & Promotion Planning

Your answers to these questions will be very useful for a variety of marketing and PR purposes, including your branding. Please take some time to answer them thoughtfully and then e-mail them back to Randy Strothman. Thank you for your time.

1. What is your mission? What is the reason you are in this business? How does this relate to the products or services you market?
2. What are you ‘selling’ to your customers/clients? Tangible products? A service ‘experience?’ Information or expertise? Confidence or trust? Something else?
3. What is your ‘Unique Selling Proposition?’ What sets you apart from your competitors? What is the ‘customer experience’ you want to offer? What are your Key Messages to your audiences? Do you have an identity that says that?
4. Who/What is your competition? The obvious or primary? The not-so-obvious? What sets you apart from them?
5. Who are your target customers/audiences? Your current, primary or “low hanging fruit”? Secondary? Do you have any customer feedback or surveys? Any zip code data?
6. List several ways that you do (or could) reach or touch these target audiences. Is there a way to convert your customers to your sales people?!
7. How do you measure success in reaching these audiences? Increased number of customers? Increased sales per customer? Other?
8. What is the main reason that you want to improve your marketing? What is your biggest marketing challenge? If there’s a problem, what is causing it?
9. What marketing efforts have worked for you in the past? How do you get most of your customers? What efforts have failed?
10. What budget are you prepared to devote to all marketing efforts? This year? In the future? Where is it best spent to reach your key audiences and get the greatest return on your dollar?
11. Are there any marketing ‘best practices’ or new ideas you would like to try?