Create a Winning Marketing Strategy: Understanding Its Purpose, Function, and Process
Marketing is a crucial component of any successful business. It is how businesses communicate their value proposition to potential customers and cut through the nosie to differentiate themselves from their competitors. A marketing strategy is a game plan that outlines how a business will reach prospective consumers and convert them into loyal customers. In this article, we'll take a closer look at what a marketing strategy is, its key components, and how to develop a strong one for your business.
Understanding Marketing Strategies
A marketing strategy is the big picture plan that sets the direction for a company's marketing activities. It contains the company's value proposition, key brand messaging, data on target customer demographics, and other high-level elements. The ultimate goal of a marketing strategy is to achieve and communicate a sustainable competitive advantage over rival companies.
A clear marketing strategy should revolve around the company's value proposition, which communicates to consumers what the company stands for, how it operates, and why it deserves their business. This provides marketing teams with a template that should inform their initiatives across all of the company's products and services. For example, Walmart is widely known as a discount retailer with "everyday low prices," whose business operations and marketing efforts are rooted in that idea.
Marketing Strategies vs. Marketing Plans
A marketing plan is a detailed document that outlines the specific types of marketing activities that a company conducts and contains timetables for rolling out various marketing initiatives. Marketing strategies should ideally have longer life spans than individual marketing plans because they contain value propositions and other key elements of a company's brand, which generally hold constant over the long haul. In other words, marketing strategies cover big-picture messaging, while marketing plans delineate the logistical details of specific campaigns.
Key Components of a Marketing Strategy
A thorough marketing strategy covers the four Ps of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion. These are the key factors that are involved in the marketing of a good or service. Here's a closer look at what each of these components entails:
Product: This refers to the goods or services that a company offers. It's important to consider factors such as quality, features, design, packaging, and branding when developing a marketing strategy.
Price: This refers to how much a company charges for its products or services. It's important to consider factors such as production costs, competition, and target customer demographics when determining pricing.
Place: This refers to the channels through which a company's products or services are distributed. It's important to consider factors such as geographic location, online presence, and retail partnerships when developing a marketing strategy.
Promotion: This refers to the marketing tactics that a company uses to communicate its value proposition to potential customers. It's important to consider factors such as advertising, public relations, social media, and content marketing when developing a marketing strategy.
Developing a Strong Marketing Strategy
Creating a marketing strategy requires several steps. Here's a closer look at what each of these steps entails:
Identify your goals: While sales are the ultimate goal for every company, you should have more short-term goals such as establishing authority, increasing customer engagement, or generating leads. These smaller goals offer measurable benchmarks for the progress of your marketing plan.
Know your clients: Every product or service has an ideal customer, and you should know who they are and where they hang out. Establish who your client is and how your product will improve their lives.
Create your message: Now that you know your goals and who you're pitching to, it's time to create your messaging. This is your opportunity to show your potential clients how your product or service will benefit them and why you're the only company that can provide it.
Define your budget: How you disperse your messaging may depend on how much you can afford. Will you be purchasing advertising? Hoping for a viral moment on social media organically? Sending out press releases to the media to try to gain coverage? Your budget will dictate what you can afford to do.
Determine your channels: Even the best message needs the appropriate venue. Some companies may find more value in creating blog posts for their website. Others may find success with paid ads on social media channels. Find the most appropriate venue for your content.
Measure your success: To target your marketing, you need to know whether it is reaching its audience. Determine your metrics and how you'll judge the success of your marketing efforts.
Why Does Your Company Need a Marketing Strategy?
In times of economic downturn, a well-planned marketing strategy is more important than ever. With consumer spending decreasing, it's essential for business owners to make sure their advertising dollars are being directed to where they will have the most impact. By understanding the needs and wants of their target audience, a marketing strategy can help companies achieve and communicate a sustainable competitive advantage over their rivals.
While we always recommend spending MORE in a recession, it's critical to create a strategy and plan that is not only effective but also cost-efficient. By conducting market research, you can identify untapped audiences and determine which marketing activities are delivering the best results. A marketing strategy that focuses on core value propositions can be the key to increasing sales and achieving bottom-line goals.
Without a marketing strategy, business owners risk wasting resources on ineffective marketing activities that don't deliver results. In an economic downturn, this can be disastrous. Therefore, it's essential to develop a marketing strategy that is both efficient and effective, helping companies to weather the storm and emerge stronger than ever. If you don't have a strategy in place, now is the time to take action. Get in touch today and let's discover your goals for the year.
