The Importance of Marketing Strategy for Business
Sep 15, 2021 2021-09-18 0:54The Importance of Marketing Strategy for Business
Karina When marketing your product or service, it is easy to get caught up in the moment and focus on the nitty-gritty of marketing; which social media to use, which advertisements to create, and so on. However, marketing is not a quick fix and to effectively implement any ideas, a marketing strategy is required.
Marketing strategies are shaped by your business goals, which will inform your marketing efforts, your specific target audience and your position in the market; these will form the road map to your product or service’s success.
Suppose the marketing strategy is the road map that dictates the direction in which the business is going. In that case, the marketing plan is the specific road and path to take for the marketing strategy to be actioned. Where the marketing strategy is the what, a marketing plan is the how; how will the goals be achieved, which tactics are required and what channels will be used?
By developing a coherent and robust marketing strategy, a company, whether it’s a start-up or a multinational giant, can promote its business, entice its target audience and effectively allocate resources whilst maintaining a consistent brand image.
Streamline Product Development
Using market research and analysis, a marketing strategy allows you to develop your product or service with the best chance of profit. Information about your target audience, what your competition is doing, and upcoming trends can determine what your customers are looking for and willing to pay.
Setting Prices
Setting the price of your product or service is a significant component of a marketing strategy. Is your target audience willing to spend more money for flashier services, or are they budget conscious? How much are your competitors charging, and what do they include in their product or service?
Find Your Audience
Marketing strategies allow you to specify your target audience. It’s not enough to simply target a broad group like women, instead ask yourself questions like; how old are these women? What jobs do they do? What makes them tick? This will enable you to create a more personalised form of marketing, help you understand why people use your product or service and allow you to launch improvements or additional products and services.
Positioning
Marketing strategies help you identify who your competition is, how to carve a niche in your market, and what sets you apart from your competitors. Having a clear vision of your company, its strengths, and weaknesses reveal where you win and how to promote your company to succeed.
Setting Goals
When setting goals, it’s critical to be as targeted as possible so you can effectively measure the outcomes against what you set out to achieve. A simple criterion for goal setting is the SMART method:
- Specific – state clearly what you want to achieve
- Measurable – set tangible measures so you can measure your results
- Achievable – set objectives that are within your capacity and budget
- Relevant – set goals that will help you improve particular aspects of your business
- Time-bound – set goals you can achieve within the time you need them
Measuring Success
Marketing strategy helps define what success looks like, how it was achieved, and how to measure that success.
Using a market strategy to guide you through this process allows you to evaluate opportunities effectively and track performance. Being able to compare outcomes with the strategy reveals whether a marketing tactic is working effectively.
The goals you set within your marketing strategy will inform the metrics you use to measure the success of the marketing activities in your marketing plan.
You will know which activities were successful for you, which need tweaking for the future, and which tactics to avoid. Operating without a marketing strategy leads to operating blind, not knowing what works and what doesn’t.
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