As with anything else, preparation is key. Without laying a foundation for success, success will not magically appear.

Strategizing

Strategy comes first, allowing you to determine your goals and what actions you will need to take accordingly. Once strategy is firmly in place, you will have language at your disposal for all communications with your target audience.

Here are important areas to define:

1. Identify who you are, your values, what you stand for

2. Have a clear vision for where your company is headed, a mission statement to live by

3. Be sure you understand your product and/or service well

4. Always know your audience inside and out

5. Dissect in great detail what benefits of your product/service are

Note that going through this process is crucial whether you have been in business for a day or for a decade! And it is important to review these areas periodically, at least once a year. In doing so, you continually have a good grasp of who you are and what your purpose is as a company.

Your overall strategy unfolds from above answers and statements. Before diving into gameplan, answer following questions, which will help define direction you will take in years to come:

1. Where do we want to be as a company in a year? What does it look and feel like?

2. How about in five years?

3. Ten years?

Be detailed. Don’t hold back as you define every aspect of your organization, and how you will interface with all those around you: management, employees, clients, and vendors. The thought precedes event, therefore start by painting picture, and its realization will happen naturally.

The gameplan

All you have to do is reflect on your own Marketing to realize truth in old statement: 90% of Advertising does not work, problem being, which 90%? If you could identify and harness 10% that does work, you would truly have power in your hands. Well, fact is that you can.

Below are examples of Marketing that you can track. But don’t stop after implementing! If results are not analyzed on an ongoing basis, and consequently, what works is not repeated, you will be back in that 90% void.

A powerful ad

A good ad must follow these guidelines in order to reach its maximum potential and yield beyond your expectations:

1. Don’t make it look like an ad! The more it resembles publication itself, better results you will see. That is why an advertorial—an ad that looks like news or an editorial—is such a powerful device.

2. Make use of a strong headline. This requires a great deal of time and effort. As Hopkins himself stated, he would spend most time on headline, discarding many along way. Only after having a bulletproof headline, would he continue with rest.

4. Tell a story. Give readers a story that reels them in, with which they can really connect.

5. Make it newsworthy. You wouldn’t read paper or your favorite magazine if content were not newsworthy, right? Same goes for an ad. Make it substantial and important.

6. Include an offer. This is your chance to make them do something! Offer something they cannot resist and which will make them take action… now. If you don’t offer anything, you greatly minimize chances of making sale. Think of this: what are odds that they will be ready to purchase from you that instant that they came across your ad? Answer: extremely low!

7. Make it easy for people to contact you. 24/7 is ideal, but otherwise, make your phone or email or other type of access extremely straightforward and be responsive. Never intimidate your audience in any way when interfacing with them, so that they always feel comfortable and taken care of.

8. Have a tracking mechanism in place. And this is final key element. You must track your success! That is how you can be scientific in your approach, and what will ultimately reveal if your tactic is indeed successful or not.