When an advertiser teams up with a media partner to help develop a marketing and advertising strategy, it’s vital for the media partner to have a thorough understanding of the advertiser’s business goals, target market, marketing budget, and competition. That means the media partner should conduct a customer needs analysis (CNA) to ensure that the recommendations they offer are relevant to the current health of the business and provide effective ways to achieve the growth the advertiser is seeking.

What is a customer needs analysis?

A customer needs analysis is the information gathered by a media partner that provides an understanding of both the current state of the business’ health, as well as the company’s marketing goals. It’s similar to a doctor-patient relationship in which the doctor takes a patient history and asks questions that enable them to make a diagnosis — before prescribing a solution. These questions help lead the media partner in the right direction and enable them to provide appropriate advice and advertising strategies to help the business grow. A salesperson who peddles advertising without first conducting a CNA is akin to a doctor prescribing medication without first understanding the patient’s needs.

What types of questions should be included in a CNA?

Questions that your media partner should be asking include:

• Who is your competition and how does your business stack up against them? In other words, what does your competition do better than you and what do you do better than your competition?
• What are your primary marketing goals for your business?
• Who is your target market?
• Why should a customer want to do business with you?
• What is your annual advertising budget?
• What type of advertising, if any, have you done before? What were the results?
• Is there a particular time of year that’s typically busy for your company?

Why is a CNA important?

A CNA helps guide the recommendations and strategy that your media partner will propose. That can’t be done effectively if they don’t first understand where your company is and where you want it to go. Your media partner should thoroughly understand your company before developing an advertising plan for you. The CNA will guide your media partner in creating an advertising strategy that is right for your company, one that will help you achieve your goals. It provides the insights needed to develop a plan specific to your company’s needs and a strategy that will provide a good ROI.

Your media partner should understand what questions to ask in order to gain a full understanding of your company’s Joplin, Missouri, advertising needs. Using the information you provide, they can then tailor an advertising plan that is right for your company, one that achieves your goals and helps pave a path to success and growth. Don’t settle for a cookie-cutter advertising plan that doesn’t address the specific needs of your company.