It’s possible to achieve success in today’s business landscape without marketing. Simply establishing a company and creating a website won’t suffice, as you can’t rely on customers coming on their own. You need to entice them, and not in a haphazard manner.
What is a marketing strategy?
A marketing strategy isn’t a random assortment of ideas. It’s a set of techniques and principles that a company should implement to achieve its business goals. You can think of it as a plan that enables you to build brand recognition and increase product or service sales. It’s essential for both fledgling businesses and established companies. A well-executed strategy includes:
- A website
- Presence on social media
- Customer relations
- Content positioning
Is a marketing strategy necessary?
There are no hard and fast rules stating that you must have a marketing strategy, but if you’re aiming for success, it’s highly advisable. Developing, documenting, and implementing a strategy at the right times impact brand perception and profits. Experienced marketing professionals or marketing agencies can work on ensuring the correctness of the entire process. The key advantages of a marketing strategy include:
- Reducing customer acquisition costs by defining the target audience and communication channels (which improves profits)
- Organizing marketing processes and actions by determining the company’s main tasks and goals, as well as the overall message between the brand and the customer, controlling sales funnel stages
- Focusing on website positioning, setting it apart from the competition, maintaining a consistent brand image, and enhancing brand recognition within the target audience
Starting a marketing strategy
The first stage of a marketing strategy is creating a text document called a creative brief. It contains crucial information about the marketing strategy and its goals. It’s developed in collaboration with marketing specialists and takes the form of a questionnaire containing key information:
- Company details, company type, industry
- Target audience to be reached and communication channels
- Company strengths and weaknesses
- Competitive differentiators in the industry
- Company goals and points for determining when they have been achieved
- Customer benefits from engaging with the brand
A brief created within an internal or external marketing team can be several pages long or concise. The most important thing is that the company’s goals are measurable, attainable, specific, significant, and time-bound (the SMART method). For instance, to increase sales, it’s better to specify, „In 2024, we will sell 500 more e-books per month,” instead of a vague goal like „We will sell more than last year.”
About a decade ago, Forbes published a template for a marketing plan that has garnered around 4 million views. It outlines how to execute the 15 most critical parts of marketing strategies, which include:
- Summary
- Target customer group
- Unique selling proposition
- Pricing and positioning strategy
- Distribution plan
- Your offerings
- Marketing materials
- Promotion strategy
- Online marketing strategy
- Conversion strategy
- Joint ventures and partnerships
- Referral strategy
- Transactional price increase strategy
- Retention strategy
- Financial projections
- Defining the company’s target audience
The most crucial element of a marketing strategy is defining the target audience. Marketing to an uninterested or distant group won’t yield profits. When defining the target audience, consider the industry in which the company operates, geographical and demographic criteria. For example, when selling production machinery, the target audience narrows down to businesses with specific needs and incomes. Private individuals with average budgets won’t buy machinery, so marketing shouldn’t be directed at them. Having a defined target group makes it easier to personalize ads in Google Ads, banners, and choose value ladders in the sales funnel, ultimately increasing profits. Demographic criteria are also essential as they determine the communication channel.
Channels to communicate with customers
Once the target audience is defined, you’ll know which communication channels to use when implementing marketing activities. Remember that the primary characteristic of these channels is communicating with the audience. Regardless of the chosen channel, it should speak to the customer’s interests. At this stage, it aligns with the target audience because the messaging will vary depending on the customer’s age. Websites, blogs, emails, Facebook, Twitter, and chats primarily reach middle-aged and older audiences. On the other hand, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and mobile audio and video apps, such as videos and podcasts, are more appealing to younger age groups and teenagers. Determining the channel also influences the form of ad presentation, such as adapting campaigns for smartphone, iPad, or computer screens. Traditional marketing like telemarketing, sales representatives, and advertising flyers can also be part of the marketing strategy.
The document outlining the marketing strategy should be present in every company, big or small. It should be used consistently. Consistently applying the documented marketing activities facilitates achieving financial and brand promotion goals. This isn’t a straightforward process and requires the assistance of specialists and continuous data analysis, but it significantly contributes to a company’s position on the internet.
