A Marketing Primer for Non-Marketers

I love watching the Olympics. Sports never seen on major networks are suddenly front and center. By the end, we’re all armchair experts on everything from snowboarding and curling to gymnastics and archery.

Archery particularly captivates me - the intricate relationship between the athlete, the target, and the tools at their disposal. I can’t help but draw parallels to the mechanics of strategic marketing – as well as the penchant for armchair expertise.

Whether it’s content development, an integrated campaign, or an event activation, marketers come to the table looking for consensus on targets, goals, KPIs, formats, etc. This primer will help non-marketers understand the strategic thinking behind those questions to improve collaboration and outcomes.

Key Elements of a Marketing Strategy

Archer The thing you want to promote

Target The audience you want to reach

Bow The tactic or channel you’re using

Arrow The messaging

What are you promoting?

This is usually the simplest part of the discussion. The archer is the thing you want to promote. A brand, product, event, etc. In the short term, the archer is “fixed”. Just as a person is a certain height, stature, left or right handed, so is your product. In the long run this can be adjusted, but for a marketing campaign being launched in the near future, it is what it is.

What marketers need to know: Problem ⟶ Solution ⟶ Differentiation. Marketers need to understand the audience mindset when facing the problem, how you’re solving it, and why your solution is better than the other options available.

Risk: Too many archers on the field. While you may have several products or features to discuss, it’s usually a good idea to stay focused.

Who are you targeting?

The target is the audience you’re trying to reach. There are 2 important items to clarify - what exactly is the target, or specific audience segment/characteristics, and what defines hitting the bullseye. The bullseye is when the target completes whatever “next step” you want them to take. For example, if I’m targeting a financial advisor, I know I’ve hit the target when they open an email or view an ad, but it’s not a bullseye until they take action like downloading a white paper, registering for a webinar, etc. Defining the key next step up front ensures we all have the same metric for success when analyzing the effectiveness of the campaign.

It’s ok to have more than one target, just be specific so you know exactly where to aim.

What marketers need to know: Clearly defined target (or targets) with specific action steps.

Risk: If you aim at everything you’ll hit nothing. Beware of trying to hit 3 or more different targets with one effort.

What tactics will propel you forward?

In archery, the selection of the bow is largely based on 1) the archer’s physique (strengths, skill, height, etc.) and 2) the kind of target you’re aiming at. If I, at 5’2” tried to use a bow that was optimized for my 6’4” husband, my chances of hitting a target are slim.

Likewise, campaign tactics serve the target and the goal, not the other way around. It’s about finding the best way to deliver a message to your audience in a time, place, and format that they’ll engage with. Can it be told in a quick graphic? Does it need more explanation through a video? Is your target more likely to take the desired action when they’re checking email or when they’re scrolling social media? If there are multiple industry event in March, how can we take advantage of that vs. getting lost while people are out of office?

What marketers need to know: What common behaviors or characteristics can help us meet the audience where they are?

Risk: Getting hung up on a tactic before defining the target and bullseye.

How can we connect with the audience?

Archers use different arrows with different features based on the bow and the target. In our case, this is the art of crafting the messaging and copy.

Messaging is all about finding the “aha moments” that will resonate with each audience. When discussing your product, we stressed the importance of defining the problem we’re solving for the audience. Now we focus on how to convey that solution in a way that captures their attention. For example, an RIA might be wooed by “superior Sharpe in both up and down markets”, but for the individual investor audience, similar concepts may be phrased “designed to take risks that pay off – regardless of market ups and downs”.

Marketers are also calibrating copy to the format and platform. The mindset people are in when they’re on LinkedIn is probably not the same as when they’re scrolling on TikTok. The next step someone can reasonably be expected to take while walking by a digital sign in the airport is different than what they may do while sitting in their office. Even strong messaging concepts still need to be optimized for a specific tactic.

Here is where testing and adapting becomes critical. Remember, we’re aiming for a bullseye. If the messaging is not driving the desired result, it’s ok to make a change.

What marketers need to know: Give it to me in one sentence. I’ve seen subject matter experts struggle when their deeply researched thesis is reduced to a few lines of copy. We understand it’s not complete, but that’s also the point - we want to give them just enough so they’ll engage with your full idea.

Risk: 1) Using the same messaging regardless of audience and tactic 2) Neglecting to test and learn. Once you have sufficient data to show something isn’t working, recalibrate.

Putting It Into Practice

The best marketing campaigns are the result of deliberate choices about what you’re promoting, who you’re trying to reach, how you’ll reach them, and why they should care.

When marketers ask questions about targets, KPIs, formats, or messaging, they’re not slowing things down or overcomplicating the process. They’re aligning the archer, the bow, the arrow, and the target so the effort has a real chance of hitting the bullseye.

The more clearly partners across the organization can articulate the problem being solved, the audience that matters, and the action that defines success, the more effective — and efficient — marketing becomes.

In the end, successful marketing is a team sport — and being in alignment is the difference between luck and strategy.