This is a basic marketing strategy I created when I first started working fo rthis advertising firm. They did not have a loft of direction with regards to how to determine their goals for the marketing department mainly because they had not established their marketing strategy. So my first job as Marketing Coordinator was to map out exactly who their target market was and how we were going to grab their attention and based on those ideas we would be able to create realistic goals to rate the department.

1. Marketing Strategy

2. Strategy vs. Plan
• A Marketing Strategy asks “what needs to be
done.”
• A Marketing Plan asks “how do we accomplish
what needs to be done.”

3. Development
• The purpose of a marketing strategy is to
create defined targets based on research.
– What does the firm want to be
– How do we get there
– What DON’T we want to do

4. 8 Steps to a Marketing Strategy
1. Discover Potential
2. Analyze Opportunity
3. Synthesis' Direction
4. Declare Soul
5. Structure Enterprise
6. Connect Clients
7. Channel Aspirations
8. Audit Performance

5. Discover Potential
• “What can we be?”
• “How might we grow?”
• “What don’t we know and how can we learn
it?”
• The point is data gathering and that can be
broken into five driving forces

6. Passion
• What is the firm passionate about collectively
and individually?
• What drives peoples work as professionals
• Why did you all become architects (nerds)

7. Markets
• This step makes you look at items outside the
firm, mainly looking at your current and
potential clients
– How do they interact with architects?
– What affects their buying choices?

8. Competition
• Now we look at who we are going up against.
Another honest look at whether there are
obstructions or possibilities.
– What markets do they work in?
– Do they design similar products?
– Services?
– What do clients think of them?

9. Trends
• The last step in your research analysis is, what is
hot now.
– Eco-Friendly?
– Budget Conscious?
– Flames and Dragons and Wizards and Unicorns?

10. Unique Selling Position (USP)
• From the information gathered in the prior
sub sections you should be able to determine
what your USP is. How your firm
differentiates from everyone else in the
market.

11. Analyze Opportunity
• What does the information gathered during
our research mean for our firm?
• Are there possibilities or obstructions
– What is the firms market share?
– How does the firm compare to the competition?

12. Synthesize Direction
• Time to choose the key focus that your firm will pursue during the
life of this strategic Marketing Strategy
– Active Markets – Where the firm wants to maintain an established and
significant market share
– Growth markets – A market with the opportunity to significantly
increase the firm’s market share
– Reactive Markets – Markets that are stagnant or not with the
monetary effort to pursue
– Operational improvements
– Marketing choices for specific markets
– The Action Plan with key must-do activities

13. Declare Soul
• The Firm’s inspiration and essence.
– Mission – The Firms Purpose
• Why the firm exists and its function in the
surrounding environment
– Vision – The Firm’s Destination
• Where the firm will be in a given amount of years
– Values – The Firm’s Interaction
• How the firm works with clients and collaborators
as well as internally

14. Structure Enterprise
• Leadership
– Organization and Communication
– Transition
• Talent
– Human Resources
– Tools

15. Leadership - Organization and
Communication
• It is always a good idea to have an
organizational chart that indicates who has
decision making authority, but also how a firm
wants to conduct its work.
– What is this person’s job description
– Who is responsible for this project
– Who can best answer this question

16. Leadership - Transition
• While it would be ideal if strategic plans came
to fruition in weeks, most often (i.e. never)
they wont.
• It is a good idea to look down the road at
potential future leaders

17. Talent – Human Resources
• What skills need to be developed
• How will new staff be indoctrinated in the
firms marketing strategy
• Do specific capabilities need to be hired

18. Talent - Tools
• Firms utilize tools to move the marketing strategy
into daily activities
– What are the key tools in the firm
– Do they help or hinder goals
• Design – Definition and tools for architectural design process
• Technical – Building systems and information resources
• Process – Project management tools and resources
• Information Technology – CAD, BIM, the electronic flow of
information
• Financial Management – Project and Firm financial tools

19. Connect Clients
• Balancing the operational plan and focusing
externally on your clients is called a Marketing
Plan.
• The key points to focus on, with regards to the
marketing plan, are
– Brand, Markets, Go/No Go, Public Relations,
Business Development, Client Care

20. Brand
• The brand is the sum total of external
understanding and perception of the firm.
• The brand component of a marketing strategy
are the tools used to shape those perceptions.
– Logo, Firm Name, tag line and other visual
imagery associated with the Firm.

21. Markets
• On one sheet of paper, distill the key markets
the firm works in and whether those markets
are in growth, active or reactive markets

22. Go/No Go
• A tool that is use to determine whether a
project is worth the firm’s time or not.

23. Public Relations
• Is utilized as a way to influence a broader
range of potential clients, customers and the
general public.

24. Business Development
• Targeting individuals and organizations,
specific tools and the actual personal
connections involved to build and maintain
relationships

25. Client Care
• Good client care is about building strong
working relationships and understanding how
clients grade project performance, then
making sure the firm performs at an
outstanding level on each project

26. Channel Aspiration
• This step involves highlighting the most important
deliverable components and inspire your talent to live the
plan daily.
– Communicate your passion and inspiration
– List the most important activities to build and maintain the
firm’s unique vision.

27. Audit Performance
• This is the firm’s regular colonoscopy.
• The goal of this step is to put into place a set of check-in
and measures that help answer “how are we doing on our
strategy”
– Project Profitability
– Overhead Rate
– Staff Utilization
– Employee Turnover
– Market Share
– Short-List Rate
– Interview Selection Rate
– Direct Award Rate
– New Client Contacts