Marketing Strategy
A marketing strategy is a long-term plan that helps a company achieve its goals by understanding customer needs and creating a sustainable competitive advantage. It defines who your customers are and which channels you use to reach them. This strategy is a roadmap for product positioning, development, partnerships, and advertising.
Key relationships in a marketing strategy:
Connection with customers: Marketing is not just about promotion and advertising. It is deeply connected to building relationships with customers to understand their needs.
Defining the overall direction: The marketing strategy guides all marketing and product activities, ensuring that every step is in sync with business goals.
Maintaining focus: A marketing strategy maintains focus and aligning marketing activities with long-term goals.
What is marketing?
Marketing includes identifying potential customers, understanding their needs, and translating them into products and services that fulfill them. It also involves convincing customers to purchase the products or services through the right pricing, packaging, and promotion.
What is not marketing?
Marketing is not just advertising or public relations. It encompasses everything that prepares a company to support sales, including product development and setting the right prices.
Why is it important to have a marketing strategy?
A marketing strategy is essential for:
Understanding customers
Developing the right products
Avoiding the waste of resources on incorrect promotion
Without a defined strategy, it is difficult to know who your customers are and what you need to offer to meet their needs.
How to create a successful marketing strategy
1. Set clear business goals.
The vision and objectives of your company shape your marketing strategy. Marketing goals should align with the long-term goals of the company, aiming for measurable and achievable results.
2. Identify and research the target market.
To achieve your goals, you need to define your market and target customers. Market research includes:
Market size
Market trends and growth
The competitors
Demographic and geographical characteristics
Customer behavior
3. Focus on the 7 Ps of marketing
Your marketing strategy should include the traditional 7 Ps:
Product: How can your product meet customer needs?
Price: How much are customers willing to pay for your product.
Promotion: What channels do you use to inform customers about your product.
Place: Where your product is sold.
People: The team that helps deliver and sell the product.
Packaging: How you present your product to the customer.
Process: How the distribution and delivery of the product is managed.
