Many businesses continue to run with existing marketing strategies that they have had in play for many years. However, retail marketing has changed dramatically in a short period of time. Gone are the days of allocating 90% of your budget to above the line media and the remaining splashed around in PR and Digital, now a more fluid and dynamic approach is needed.

I believe, when building your marketing strategy, you need to ask yourself the following:

• How successful were your promotions/events over the last few years?

• What did or didn’t work for your business and why?

• Are your campaigns positioned to give you the greatest results? Look at the timing of your events and competitors events. Bring into the mix promotional opportunities like Christmas, Mother’s Day, Easter and public holidays.

• Are you making the most of new product? Review your seasonal product mix; new products and categories are important strategies that require focus. You will want to highlight new releases – Use some of your tight marketing budget to draw attention to these areas.

• Review your budget and return on investment – What have you been spending funds on? What delivered the best result? You may need to adjust and spend more or less in certain areas (Example: Reducing a 16-page brochure to 12 pages and passing those savings onto an online sales driving campaign).

Answering the above questions will certainly help you gain a positive viewpoint on how you should build your marketing strategy for the next financial year.

Here are a few tips, which may help the process:

• Break down your annual marketing planner per week, and align your budget accordingly. Track your budget on a weekly basis; adjust accordingly if you’re not achieving business sales targets.

• When compiling your strategy, determine your expenditure breakdown per event and promotion. What media will work best for each event or promotion? Make sure your content suits your media!

• Allocate and breakdown the percentage of your total budget wisely; your mix should include allocation of monies towards a variety of campaigns with goals in mind. Goals may include: Driving sales, increasing your brand name in the market, building online sales, acquiring new customers, visual merchandising, loyalty programs and social media. For the best results filter these into the most suitable and relevant media type.

• Don’t be afraid to try new things. However, always report, analyse and adjust accordingly.

For further information please contact My Robot Monkey, Marketing and Digital Agency.

www.myrobotmonkey.com.au