There are 15 critical questions that relate to each of the main stages in the marketing process. Companies that can definitively answer each of the questions are able to achieve a significant increase in sales performance compared to those that can’t. How does your marketing process compare?

1. Can you clearly identify who your target customer is?

2. Are your sales targets realistic given the size of the audience?

3. What category does your product falls into and will your customers know where to look for it?

4. What customer problem or need does the product solve?

5. What does the customer do at each stage of the purchase journey?

6. Do you know how long the sales cycle is and match your marketing activities to this?

7. Are the sales and marketing processes aligned to the customer purchase journey?

8. Does your marketing generate persuasive content that addresses the customer’s need?

9. Is your content available where customers go to look for information?

10. Do you test all your marketing (messages, content, imagery and channel preferences)?

11. Is progress along the customer journey measured on a regular basis?

12. Do you nurture customers that aren’t ready to purchase yet?

13. What’s your post-sales plan to keep customers happy?

14. Is there a learning framework to capture what works and what doesn’t?

15. Do you know which marketing activities give the best return on investment?

Read the full article here