Please check out Episode 1 of our new Vlog franchise “Marketing 101,” starring yours truly. Feel free to heckle in the comments! I promise to heckle back…
TRANSCRIPT:
This is the first in our series of vlogs about Marketing fundamentals – because like baseball, it’s all about the fundamentals. Sure we dress it up these days, use “analytics” on our smart phones and whatnot, but these principles are as old as dirt. Essentially, marketing just connects people who want something to the people who have it.
Today’s alphabet soup…SWOT analysis.
But what IS it?
SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats…
And why are they so important?
Well, the first two are about the now. If you don’t know your strengths and weaknesses, you’re not going to know how to position your offering in the marketplace. You’ll be at the mercy of brands better able to articulate the benefits and drawbacks of their offerings.
The second two are about the future – can you stay in business? Because a business is a living, breathing thing, that needs constant oversight and attention. Opportunities are essential to grow your business. Threats can destroy it altogether.
Ask yourself, why do you believe your product or service is superior to others? If someone asked you why you and not them? What’s your answer? If you can’t articulate it, you doubtless have a problem in your marketing messaging.
Then ask around – customers, employees, the public, Kenny Rogers, Kim Kardashian, your mom – how do they perceive your brand? And look at your competition – what are they saying about themselves? You’ll find a lot of your future threats and opportunities by looking at the competitive landscape.
Marketing strategist over and out.