Strategic marketing is a method which will help an organization to focus its limited resources on those opportunities that can deliver the greatest revenues and hence achieve a sustainable competitive edge. Strategic marketing is more of a planning exercise than anything else and involves a great deal of analysis on market trends, consumer behavior, consumer buying habits, competitor’s pricing and various other factors so as to be able to build a marketing plan that focuses the limited resources available for a company in achieving the business objectives. The process of developing a comprehensive marketing plan involves gathering the data, analyzing the data, formulating a strategy based on the data gathered, and then implementing it. This article looks at some of the ways in which companies can use strategic marketing to drive their sales.
One of the best ways to start off with a strategic marketing program is to first formulate a marketing strategy that will address the goals and objectives of the company. Usually, this marketing strategy will require a detailed research and analysis of all the relevant data which will determine what strategies to implement. The initial phase of developing a marketing strategy involves defining the goals and objectives of the company. This includes identifying the target audience, defining the product and service offerings, determining the most effective marketing channels, determining the most appropriate pricing, building the corporate reputation, and positioning the company in the market. As mentioned earlier, there are a number of sub-components that make up a complete marketing strategy and they include positioning, leveraging, communications, branding, digital marketing, and financial marketing.
The second phase of developing a strategic marketing plan looks at how the marketing strategy can best serve the company’s goals and objectives. This includes analyzing the customer needs, analyzing the available marketing channels, aligning the products and services with the customer needs, and finding the right pricing. After this stage, the company should have a list of the existing channels, identify new channels, and determine the most appropriate tactics to use depending on the customer needs. One must remember that the target audience, the target customers, and the potential distributors or purchasers may vary depending on the business. Thus, it is important to create different marketing plans for different businesses.
The third phase of developing a strategic marketing mix strategy involves the process of identifying the appropriate marketing mix or tactics for the organisation. This includes identifying whether the organisation is able to differentiate itself from the rest of the market, what market segment it should aim to penetrate, and what marketing mix would work for this market segment. This is also the stage where the organisation would develop its marketing objectives and goals, identify its competitors, and set its prices. This is also the stage where the SWOT analysis is conducted to see if the organisation has any vulnerability, what threats it could face if it tries to do too much or too little, and how it can counter these threats.
The fourth and final phase of developing a strategic marketing plan involves getting the best advertising support. In this stage, the company will look to partner with the right people, using the right marketing channels, and using the right type of advertising campaigns. The company will conduct a SWOT analysis in this phase as well, to identify any weaknesses that it might have in its positioning. In addition, the firm will conduct surveys to find out what its customers think of the way it conducts its business. This is also the stage where the company will decide if its competitors are using similar strategies as it is, and what its short and long-term marketing objectives are. Once all the research is done, the marketing team will come up with the marketing mix strategy.
The whole process of developing strategic marketing plans is time consuming and costly. However, if the objectives of the company are not met, then this will prove to be a waste of resources and time. A poor strategy will not only be a waste of money but also a loss of opportunities. Thus, if there is an effective marketing strategy in place, the business is more likely to be able to meet its goals.