Understanding SWOT analysis – need of your business!
Summary: There are number of theories, which exhibit a greater effect on marketing plans of a business or an organization. Among all these, SWOT turns to be a perfect blend of internal strengths and weaknesses, along with the exterior opportunities and threats…
Researches have proved that conducting a SWOT analysis for your business is a must and it’s a real fun. Unlike other processes, it won’t take much time. And, its application compels you to think about your business in an entirely new way. So, what is SWOT?
The name ‘SWOT’ includes – Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threats. The stress of this analysis is to develop a strong business strategy, considering all of your business’s strengths & weaknesses andthe future opportunities and threats it may facein the marketplace.
For any organization or business, strengths and weaknesses are termed to be the internal factors. These can be altered with some efforts and are within your control.On the other hand, opportunities and threats are external. These cannot be modified and you don’t have control over them. While starting with a SWOT analysis, there are few questions for which you need to dig out the answers. These questions help you to develop each section of your SWOT analysis efficiently;
In all, the SWOT analysis is beneficial as it make you learn;
- How to make best use of your Strength?
- How can recover your Weaknesses?
- How tograb and use each Opportunity?
- How to defend against each Threat?
And being one of the most valuable tools, it enables the business owner to make better business decisions.
In general, businesses make use of SWOT analysis to explore the positive and negative aspects of the ideas, strategies and all other business moves. Thus, performing a SWOT analysis is a must do to get the job done in the most efficient and effective way. For your help there are four free SWOT analysis templates, which will help you get started now:
- Bplans: It will be a great help for starters. Visit Bplans’ SWOT analysis resource page, here you will find free SWOT analysis template and sample SWOT analyses for various companies and industries. Along this, it also guides SWOT analysis in detail and how to create one!
- Microsoft Office: If you wish to get the best out of your business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, try free SWOT analysis templates offered by Microsoft Office’s SWOT analysis template library. It offers basic PowerPoint SWOT analysis template, Microsoft Office and numerous free Excel SWOT analysis templates for various strategic purposes.
- My Spreadsheet Lab: Looking for more functionality? My Spreadsheet Lab is the one stop solution to get free Excel SWOT analysis template. Making use of list-based spreadsheet, it generates a table-based SWOT analysis chart.
Similarly, SWOT analysis has proved to be a boon for the world of Digital marketing. It helps to determine the right strategy and much more. The reason being;
- It presents thing in a much familiar way.
- The format being used is easy to understand.
- Eliminate the need of long documents.
- A clear idea of what to do.
- Concrete recommendations.
Thus, this structured planning method is essential for the marketers who crave to set apart from their contenders. Find out how your digital marketing campaigns boost up with SWOT:
Identify Your Marketing Strengths
It is important to identify what all has been working well in the digital market, for example:
- What steps helped to earned valuable backlinks?
- Were there some conversions which came via the social media accounts?
- What was the result of optimizing different pages?
- Is the content being read and well received by the target audience?
- Has it helped in generating extra trafficand leads for the business?
In all, reviewing what strategies and tactics made an impactful presence over your contenders need to be considered as strengths the marketing teams have to work with moving forward.
Recognize Your Marketing Weaknesses
You cannot ignore the fact that even the most successful marketing campaigns consists of some weaknesses. Thus, along your successes and strengths, it is vital to ponder the weak spots in your digital marketing efforts. Some examples;
- Does the website takes much time to load?
- Does the content need to be optimized in a better way?
- Do the social media accountsget neglected at times?
- Were there some opportunities which could have taken your success to all new heights, but you missed them?
Besides, the aspects of the marketing efforts which need to be improved uponmake a note for the weaknesses and shortcomings for the marketing team.
Embrace Marketing Opportunities
After determining the strengths and weaknesses, it is time to take a look at the external business environment too. Recognizing some new or existing marketing opportunities will help you to potentially leave a mark over your contenders.It might be incorporating video ads to your campaign. While your competitors remain stick to those traditional advertising, such an opportunity can deliver lucrative results.
Usage of top notch tools like SEMrush, Moz, crazyegg, BuzzStream and many others proves to be a great opportunity. On one hand they help in analysis and optimization of your business, on the other they simplify the work process.Not to miss one thing here; you need to be very cautious while considering external opportunities.
Recognize Potential Threats
The end part of a SWOT analysis for a digital marketing process involves competitive analysis and preparing your business for threats from the present and upcoming competition. Along this, it is highly required to be prepared from external threats like such as Google algorithm updates, which occurs more regularly as the web continues to evolve. It can be really harmful to ignore them as they are likely to impact everyone in the market. Moreover, these can have an adverse effect on your digital marketing efforts. Keep a check on;
- Is your marketing content being easily replicated by your competitors?
- Are the competitors havinga large number of resources and it becomes difficult for you to compete?
- Are your strategies and campaign being targeted by a competitor with a negative marketing campaign?
It is essential to put your best to anticipate these threats and prepareto handle them in advance!
Once you’ve completed your SWOT analysis it’s time to. As the New Year approaches, SWOT analysis will be greatly beneficial for your digital marketing campaign. All you need to do is review the elements listed in it and transform them into actionable items. The actions you take in 2015 must incorporate most of your marketing strengths, improvement in the areas listed in your weaknesses, advantage of the New Year’s upcoming opportunities and last, to counter the potential threats. This will surely lead you ringing in the New Yearwith more confidence, preparation and inspiration – in terms of digital marketing!