This article was originally published by Mark Mayo over at 601MEDIA,LLC.

Marketing is an Investment

Q: What is a Marketing Strategy?
A: 1)A plan of action designed to promote and sell a product or service. 2)A business’s overall plan designed to reach prospective consumers and turn them into customers.

In preparation: 1st step) This is a process. You can’t be expected to remember everything over time, so document everything as you go… names, dates, cost, descriptions, etc.  You’ll need this information at a later date.

In preparation: 2nd step) Develop a system, a blueprint, and treat everyone the same. Use a systematic approach. When you find something that does or does not work for you and your particular situation, adapt your systematic blueprint.

In preparation: 3rd step) Think PROFESSIONAL! You are going to market yourself as an Expert, a Professional, that’s why you are going into business in the first place. The level of trust in a potential customers mind is very important.

Now let’s get started with your 1st years Ultimate 2020 Fishing Charters & Guide Services Marketing Strategy – ver1.05

1) Research the Market

  • What are the current going rates
  • Total Number of Operational Businesses in the Market
  • Total Number of Supporting Services in the Market
  • Are these businesses thriving
  • Are these businesses advertising
  • Is their boat mobile or land(docked) based
  • Is the Market expanding or contracting
  • Are there any surrounding locations that will support additional business
  • Is there a large enough financially qualified customer base
  • Is the financially qualified customer base expanding or contracting

2) Research your Competition

  • Online Footprint
  • Offline Footprint
  • Marketing Efforts
  • How embedded in with locals are they
  • Pricing Structure
  • Their unique position in the market
  • Years in business
  • Size of their customer base
  • Any unique local partnerships

3) Create a (TRUSTED) Professional Legal Business

  • Think Professional: A level of TRUST is perceived here
  • Create Structure: Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, LLC (recommended), Corporation
  • Get your Licensing
    • Captains Licensing
    • Business Licensing
  • Get the Necessary Equipment
    • Boat
    • (land based)Docking
    • (mobile)Vehicle to transport vessel
    • (mobile)Trailer
    • Supporting Equipment
    • Fishing Gear
  • Get applicable Insurance
    • Business Insurance
    • Boat Insurance
    • Vehicle Insurance

4) Build your Customer’s Persona

  • Who is your ideal customer?
  • What are their pain points?
  • Where can you find them?
  • How do they like to be contacted?
  • What are their demographics?
  • What are their psychographics?

5) Prepare your Unique Selling Proposition(USP).

  • Put yourself in your customer’s shoes
  • Know what motivates your customers behavior
  • What are the real reasons customers buy your service instead of your competitor’s

6) Prepare your Marketing Copy

  • Your company message
  • Your voice

7) Develop your Customer Lifecycle Plan

  • Attract
  • Re-target
  • Convert
  • Fulfill
  • Delight
  • Provide Ethical Parting Gift
  • Touch Point Thank You
  • Drip Marketing

8) Prepare your Print Media

  • Branding
    • Logo
    • Boat Graphics
    • Boat Wrap
    • Truck Wraps
    • Car Wraps
  • Business Cards
  • Brochures
  • Rack Cards
  • Thank You for your Business Post Cards
  • Signage
  • T-Shirts
  • Stickers
  • Decals

9) Prepare Promotional Merch

  • Magnets
  • Bumper Stickers
  • Koozies
  • Shopping Bags
  • Hats
  • Keychains
  • Pens
  • Water Bottles
  • Cups
  • Sun Glasses
  • USB Sticks

10) Develop a Professional Attitude in the name of your company

  • Professional
  • Knowledgeable
  • Sharp
  • Enthusiastic
  • Helpful
  • Caring

11) Brand yourself as an Expert

  • Builds Authority
  • Builds Trust
  • Communicates Success
  • Establish Credibility

12) Brand your Business Locally / Regionally

  • Create Partnerships with Local Businesses that support your customers
  • Entice Word of Mouth
  • Visually Communicate with Print Media
  • Setup traction ads in brick & mortar media outlets

13) Create Partnerships with Top Local Captains

  • You will refer your over bookings to these Captains.
  • Your customers will be fishing with these Captains so make sure they at least have the same customer service goals as you do.

14) Create a Website – this will be your root sales funnel

  • Create a professional mobile ready website
  • Publish Fishing Reports & Forecast
  • Publish Fishing Articles
  • Publish a Blog
  • Advertise on local related websites
  • SEO the web pages
  • Setup Schema site wide

15) Setup Website Analytics (Tracking)

  • Setup a Google Analytics Account
  • Setup Google Console
  • Setup any Google Event Tracking
  • Setup any Google Goals
  • Setup any Google UTM Tracking Codes

16) Setup an account on Google My Business

  • Fill out your profile
  • Add your best photos, videos, media, etc

17) Create Google Local Business Maps Citations

  • Develop Structured Listings
  • Develop Unstructured Listings
  • Claim any Unclaimed Business Listings

18) Develop Customer Driven Marketing Campaign

  • Ask for Referrals at strategic points
  • Entice Social Sharing

19) Setup a SEM Marketing Campaign

  • Google Ads
  • Content Network Ads
  • Track & Re-Target
  • Paid Advertising
  • Landing Pages
  • Bing Ads

20) Setup a SEO Marketing Campaign

  • On-Page SEO
  • Off-Page SEO
  • Article Content Marketing
  • Backlink outreach program
  • Monitor Keyword Ranking Positions

21) Setup a Social Media Marketing Campaign

  • Social Posting
  • Re-Targeting Ads
  • Facebook Ads
  • Instagram Ads
  • YouTube Ads

22) Setup a E-Mail Marketing Campaign

  • Very Important Step, we’ll use this in the near future

23) Setup a Video Content Marketing Campaign

  • YouTube Channel
  • Live Streaming – Facebook & YouTube

24) Create a Podcast Marketing Campaign

  • We’ll use this in the near future

25) Begin a Public Relations Campaign

  • Befriend local reporters and local bloggers
  • You’ll need them them later when we extend your marketing efforts

26) Develop Promotional Giveaways Campaign

  • I recommend: Giveaway One 1/2 Day Charter to a less fortunate person or hero
  • Giveaway Swag: T-Shirts, Hats, Stickers

27) Track and Document Everything Possible

  • Measure your ROI (Return on your investment)
  • Find something that doesn’t work, don’t do that.
  • Find something that works, do more of that!

28) Success: You will now sell your over booked leads to other Captains

  • Eventually you will be overbooked, that’s a good thing
  • Your marketing efforts produced the leads, don’t undervalue these
  • In the customer eyes you’re referring these Captains so make sure they are top notch