How do you build a holistic marketing strategy?

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If you’re responsible for building your company’s go to market strategy, you’re probably not starting from scratch.  If you’ve ever asked yourself the question, how do I tie all of our marketing activities together to make a bigger impact, this model may help you.  It’s easy for a marketing strategy to go awry when different groups with different agendas touch the different elements of a marketing strategy. All of the elements may not be coming together effectively.

The marketing strategy framework proposed by New Technology Consulting provides a path forward. It’s a model you can use to organize your thoughts, organize what you know about your company, market, product and most of all your customers.  With this in hand you can be on your way to defining a cohesive strategy, and be well down the path to holistic marketing execution. See the model here. Let us know what you think!

What is Solutions Marketing?

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So what is Solutions Marketing?

Let me share a working definition that I’ve found quite useful.  In the context of high tech marketing, “a solution is the combination of hardware, software and services brought together to solve an important customer problem. “  I stand by this definition for two primary reasons

1.  It addresses the fact that very often a customer’s problem or opportunity isn’t truly addressed by one widget alone – it’s takes a combination of elements to achieve success and actually solve a problem.

2. Most importantly the focus of solutions marketing is on solving a compelling customer problem.  I believe that today, marketers and customers are overwhelmed in features, speeds and feeds, and often the marketer loses sight of the customer and their needs.

If you agree with this definition, the implications for marketers can be significant.  To market solutions successfully, it’s critical to truly understand the customer and their needs first, and use this insight as a guide and filter to any messaging and programs you may attempt.

As simple as it seems, there can be a profound difference between starting with the customer and working back to the solution and starting with the product and trying to position it.

Thoughts and comments?