Marketing Minute: Making your own luck – March 2024

By Paul Friederichsen

How often have we heard the expression, Hope is not a strategy? And yet, how often do flooring marketers sidestep strategy development for any number of reasons: We don’t have time; It’s not that important; We already know what’s needed? To be fair, not every circumstance needs a full-blown strategic plan. After all, the target audience is already defined, the competitors haven’t changed, etc. But there are times when it is warranted, and, in those cases, many marketers don’t know where to begin. Why should you leave anything to chance when so much is riding on it?

WHAT A MARKETING PLAN IS AND IS NOT
A marketing plan for a flooring manufacturer or dealer is the journey or roadmap to create qualified customers for your unique products or services. While the sales department actually generates the transaction, the marketing department makes it all possible by reaching more customers, more ways, more often, strategically. Of course, there are thousands of different ways to do that, but what is the best way within the guiderails of price, demand, geography, budget, competition? That’s what a well-articulated strategy helps to determine.

Does luck or chance ever play a role in success, regardless of planning? Of course. A competitor can stumble. A natural disaster can occur. An opportunity can emerge out of nowhere. So, the plan pivots to take advantage of these external, uncontrollable factors, likewise with bad luck, like a plant fire, a scandal, an unexpected price increase or supply chain shortage. The marketing plan is a roadmap that can reroute your path around an unanticipated obstacle.

There are situations when marketing strategy is critical. For example, in the floor manufacturing business, it’s about ensuring the successful introduction of a new product line or feature. Marketing plans are also essential with a merger, acquisition or expansion. Anytime the status quo is disrupted-or needs disrupting-it’s best to “make your luck” rather than just rely on it to create awareness and positive momentum for your brand.

For flooring retailers, price is not a strategy by itself. A sale, on the other hand, can be an effective tactic to reach a sales goal. Unless your value proposition and positioning in the market is that of a “bargain basement” outlet or an ultra-high-end design boutique, you can’t strictly price your way to long-term success. At some point, discount pricing is always preemptable by the competition or online sales. Adding depth and assortment to your business-such as a new flooring category or countertops, for example; fending off an aggressive competitor; or opening a new location-all require a marketing strategy that helps you address the critical questions and issues related to those situations.

DEVELOPING A MARKETING PLAN
What are the basic methods to develop a marketing strategy? There are two schools of thought in this area: top-down and bottom-up.

Top-down means you start with a goal, assess the situation, formulate the objectives and consider various tactics that will achieve the objectives to reach the goal. This is a classic approach but may get tangled up in defining an unrealistic goal to be achieved. Time is often of the essence in areas of marketing, and choice of tactics may already be a foregone conclusion.

Bottom-up means you begin with the tactics and work backwards to articulate a strategy that gets you to where you want to go. In Jack Trout’s book, Trout on Strategy, Trout uses George S. Patton’s expertise as a tank tactician as an example. His strategy to beat the enemy was reliance on tank warfare; therefore, in his case, tactic dictated strategy.

Regardless of approach, floorcovering marketers should resist the temptation of the latest fads or gimmicks to attract customers while hoping for the best. Making your own luck requires a strategic lens to evaluate any tactics or ideas. Understanding the key components of this lens is fundamental to strategy and will create a cogent plan for approval by management.

The Goal: By definition, a strategy is “a plan of action designed to achieve a major, overall aim” according to Oxford. So, every strategy has an “aim” or goal, and it should be as specific as possible. (You’ll want to measure the effectiveness and ROI later.) A stated goal should not be to merely generate awareness within such-and-such group, and it should be measurable.

Goal setting is usually the toughest part of strategic planning because it’s the business reason for all of it. The goal should be based on an informed, realistic assessment of what’s achievable from a historical perspective (what we know to be true), a budgetary perspective (what we are willing to invest to achieve a return), and a current market perspective (what unmet need or gap can we fill that no one else can). The answers to all of these should be part of the “Situation Analysis” for your marketing strategy.

The Situation: An unvarnished assessment and analysis of the current situation is an essential component for a marketing plan. This will reflect the opportunities or the obstacles for marketing and will inform how the marketer will need to address (or ignore) these in order to reach the goal. Here, define (or redefine) the customer and the competition.

Objectives: Out of this are formed objectives-a list of critical accomplishments, or KPIs (key performance indicators), that act as the steps toward goal attainment. A common mistake in marketing planning is confusing objectives with goals, which is why you’ll see a list of “goals” that tend to dilute the focus of the plan. Setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) objectives is essential for a successful marketing strategy.

Tactics: Tactics are “a competitive mental angle,” according to Trout. He goes on to observe that tactics, above all, imbue that element of “differentness.” Tactics are often the exciting “business end” of the plan, which may consider some new media technology, a celebrity spokesperson or an irresistible sponsorship deal. The tactic of product demonstration for an improved flooring attribute may dictate a host of strategic decisions, for example.

Good creative can often salvage a tactical misstep or enhance a brilliant one. Never underestimate its importance. In fact, creative directors prefer the freedom of a well-defined strategy. They find that their creative inventiveness is actually stimulated rather than stymied when in place.

Impediments to developing effective marketing strategy are numerous. Here is a checklist to consider:
• Market analysis: Stay current on what’s happening with competitors and trends.
• Media channels: What you are familiar with may not do the best job in your strategy.
• Budget: Have a frank discussion regarding funding. Doing more with less can be challenging.
• Know your customer: This is always crucial. Revisit depending on the new strategy.
• Require the best creative: If you can communicate it compellingly using only seven words on a highway billboard, you can do it anywhere.
• Compliance and certifications: Overlooking this area can be expensive.

In marketing, making your own luck doesn’t rely on any one trait, like instinct, creativity, experience or hard work. It relies on all of that-plus the plan.

Copyright 2024 Floor Focus

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