Suppose an enterprise, Business, Startup, or Company Wants to obtain quality results and increase traffic, visitors and sales. Therefore, they need to prepare a step-by-step action plan that will identify the business’s strengths, set goals and think over ways to achieve them. That is why developing a marketing strategy is entrusted to experienced Internet marketers. It will allow you to achieve the desired indicators quickly and save the budget.
What is a marketing strategy?
A marketing strategy is a step-by-step instruction for business development to scale it up and implement commercial plans.
It is a set of consistent actions that change the perception and behavior of consumers. Moreover, it is also a future strategy to help the company increase sales and profits.
The development of a marketing plan depends on careful analysis. First, specialists study the market, products’ strengths and weaknesses (including competitive ones), and unique qualities. Then they prescribe the stages, tasks, and subtasks. Since the situation in the market is constantly changing, the company needs to respond to changes promptly and make adjustments.
Why you need a marketing strategy
First, a marketing strategy is necessary for a company to choose the direction in which it will develop. In addition, it helps to identify opportunities and prospects for the development of the company and its products and to identify growth points. A marketing strategy is a short-term or long-term plan that helps a company achieve its goals, address priorities, and succeed in the marketplace.
The marketing strategy structures and streamlines the activities of the marketing service, sales service, and the company as a whole.
- Attention : a business can work without a marketing strategy. However, in this case, marketing is chaotic, and its effectiveness is weakly related to the actions of the business. The strategy helps to focus on the really important processes.
An effective marketing strategy helps to achieve:
- Through research and hypothesis testing, businesses can capture new market shares and strengthen their presence in relevant segments. Thus, More fabulous Brand presence in the market.
- Increasing profits. The company knows the audience, when to stimulate sales and how to position itself to increase sales.
- Increasing competitiveness. A marketing strategy allows you to understand your advantages better and use them correctly.
- Successful introduction of new products and services to the market
Who needs a marketing strategy?
- Individuals who want to promote their Services (Consultants, Lawyers, Fitness Coaches, etc.)
- Companies that have just started their business or are on the verge of opening (for start-ups);
– Firms that want to improve their position in the market, enter new segments and increase the scale of their business;
– Enterprises that experience a decline in activity and sales.
How to Choose Marketing Strategy
There is no one size fits all marketing strategy. Many marketers start by defining the overall marketing mix, which you can divide easily into four components: product, pricing, promotion, and placement. Understanding what your product or service offers and your potential customers will help you choose the right tools to reach them.
The marketing mix may include content marketing, digital marketing, email marketing, customer loyalty programs, and social media marketing. Depending on your marketing environment, you may want to balance your efforts between campaigns and customer acquisition and retention strategies.
The selection of Marketing strategy also depends on demographics, targetted audience, Market research, historical data, and much more. Therefore, before selecting any specific marketing strategy, it’s better to understand your targetted audience, demographics, cultural psychology, latest trends, and competitors.
What is included in a marketing strategy?
Developing a strategic plan for your marketing campaign is essential so that you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your marketing campaign, how you will achieve your goals, and how you will measure your results. Most marketers start by setting goals. Common steps included in the marketing strategy are:
- Conducting a detailed SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats)
- Conducting PEST analysis (political, economic, social, technical)
- Conducting 5C analysis (company, customers, competitors, employees, climate)
- Goal Setting/Goal Setting
- Align goals with the corporate mission and audit an existing mission statement to ensure it remains relevant
- Setting measurable goals (KPIs)
- Audit of current marketing activities
- Structuring tactics to achieve established goals
- Predicting expected results
- Definition and distribution of the budget
- KPI measurement, evaluation, and adjustment
1. Purpose
Based on the goal specified in the business plan. After researching the audience, market and competitors, it is specified and indicated in the marketing strategy.
Develop the goals according to the SMART principle. It should be specific (specific), measurable (measurable), consistent with other strategic goals of the company (agreeable, accordant), achievable (realistic), and have a specific time frame for implementation (time-bounded).
Bad option: set the fashion for raincoats for dogs.
A good option is to triple sales of dog raincoats in 2020 compared to 2019.
Do not set goals for which the company does not have enough resources. The goal should be realistic – you need to consider market conditions.
2. Company Positioning
Think about the place the company will occupy in the consumer’s mind, how it will differ from competitors and what problems it can solve for potential customers. Then, based on positioning, a unique selling proposition (USP), the corporate identity of the company, and pricing policy are formed.
3. Description of the range
Make a table of the company’s products or services, and evaluate it. It will help you decide which products to remove from the assortment and which ones to be added.
For example, you will open a store where people will come for additions to the purchased gift – flowers, balloons, postcards. Then, after analyzing competitors’ offers and customer requests, you can introduce an additional service that others do not have, for example, courier delivery of a gift.
4. Marketing Plan
A marketing plan is a step-by-step guide to implementing the strategy. It contains aspects such as:
An overview of the Target Audience
It helps you to understand the Gender, age, place of residence, marital status, number of children, employment and income level, and needs and desires of a potential client.
List of advertising channels
A list of advertising channels will help to choose an option by which you can quickly and effectively target the audience based on their Gender, age, place of residence, marital status, number of children, employment and income level, and needs and desires of a potential client.
Product Strengths
Benefits you learned from consumers through research. How does your product differ from your competitor’s product? The product can vary based on pricing, Quality, customer demand, features, performance, and more.
Description of the loyalty program
It will include Discount cards, and special offers to make them more loyal to your company.
It is essential to assign Responsible employees and strategy performance indicators (KPI) to each plan item. Unfortunately, there are no universal KPIs. Instead, decide what it will be: revenue, website traffic, and the number of subscribers on the company’s pages on social networks.
Write down the deadlines for the implementation of the strategy, as well as milestones upon reaching which the team will verify the work results. Track progress once a week, month, or six months. So you will have time to adjust the strategy in time: reformulate goals and objectives or choose new ones.
Conclusion
Your marketing strategy identifies your competitive advantage, while your marketing plan describes how you intend to achieve it. So, the above article will help you understand how to write a marketing strategy and what points to keep in mind. If you still need any help regarding your marketing strategy, subscribe to my mailing list, and comment here so that I will help you at my best level.
Bilal Ahmed
https://BilalAhmedAwan.comA passionate Digital entrepreneur and business coach with 8+ Year Experience