Marketing Strategy: What Is It and Why Your Business Needs It

A marketing strategy is an essential tool for staying ahead of the competition and increasing sales growth. It can help any company from a world-famous online business like www.betamo.com/en-CA/games/live-casino to a local startup. Today, we’ll look at the main stages of developing a marketing strategy that will help you create an effective action plan.

What a Marketing Strategy Is

A marketing strategy is a comprehensive plan that describes how to achieve specific business goals and objectives. It includes analyzing the target market, researching competitors, and developing a marketing mix that will help the business optimally meet the needs of its customers.

Goals and Importance of Marketing Strategy

One of the main goals of marketing strategy is to increase sales. Through analyzing customer needs and preferences, identifying competitive advantages, and developing effective marketing tools, strategy helps attract new customers and retain existing ones.

Moreover, it helps build a strong and recognizable brand. Clear positioning, effective communication, and a unique selling proposition help you stand out from your competitors and create long-term customer relationships.

A marketing strategy also allows your business to adapt to changing market conditions and trends. Regular market analysis helps you identify new opportunities and threats, adapt your strategy, and make informed decisions.

Levels of Marketing Strategy

A marketing strategy can be organized at several levels that interact with each other and affect different aspects of the business. Here are the main levels of marketing strategy.

Corporate 

This is where the company’s goals, values, and mission are defined, as well as the strategic direction of the brand. A corporate marketing strategy defines the overall approach to the company’s market positioning, selection of target markets, and basic marketing principles.

Business 

At this level, a marketing strategy is developed for each individual business or product line within the company. The objectives, positioning strategy, and promotional tactics for a particular business or product are refined. This may include developing a marketing plan, identifying target audiences, selecting promotional channels, and establishing specific performance metrics.

Functional 

Detailed plans and tactics are developed for each marketing function to support the execution of business and corporate strategy. For example, specific advertising campaigns, pricing strategies, or packaging designs are identified.

These levels of marketing strategy are interrelated and influence each other. Corporate-level strategy sets overall goals and direction for the business level, and business-level strategy defines actions at the functional level. At the same time, information and data obtained at the functional level can be used to analyze and optimize strategies at higher levels.

The Main Stages of Marketing Strategy Development

The structure and content of a marketing strategy depend on the specific characteristics of the business, industry, and company goals. However, there are common elements that are included in a marketing strategy. Here are some of them:

Target Segment and Market Analysis

Includes researching and analyzing target market segments and identifying potential opportunities for the business. The results of the analysis will help determine what products or services should be offered in the market and the relationship between the company’s offerings and the demand in the market.

Segmentation of Customers Into Target Groups

Dividing the total flow of potential customers into small target segments will help meet their needs more effectively. Target segments are identified based on customer characteristics and behaviors as well as their needs. This allows the company to focus its marketing efforts on the most promising and profitable segments.

Positioning

Defining a clear niche position is an important element of marketing strategy. A company must define its unique selling proposition that sets it apart from its competitors, as well as its competitive advantages and brand identity. Positioning helps a company to take a leading position in its industry and create a recognizable brand image.

Marketing Mix of Measures

This element includes a combination of marketing tools that are used to market products and services. The marketing mix of measures may include pricing strategies, product strategies, promotional policies, distribution strategies, and sales strategies. Each tool is selected and customized according to the specific needs and characteristics of the business.

The specific content of the marketing strategy may be different for each company. It’s important to take into account the characteristics of the industry, the competitive environment, and the needs of customers.

How to Evaluate the Effectiveness of a Marketing Strategy

Once you’ve started implementing a marketing strategy, you need to understand how well it’s meeting its goals and achieving its intended results. Here are a few ways to measure effectiveness.

Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Identify the metrics that are most relevant to your marketing goals. For example, this could be sales volume, market share, conversion rate, number of new customers, and other metrics specific to your business. Track these metrics over time and compare them to your initial data and targets.

The Competitive Environment

Study the competitive landscape and analyze how your marketing strategy helps you stand out in the marketplace compared to your competitors. Analyze brand awareness, reputation, and customer feedback to assess your competitive position.

Research and Surveys

Conduct customer research to understand how successful your marketing strategy is in influencing their decision to purchase your product or service. Surveys, focus groups, and testimonials can provide valuable information about advertising effectiveness and customer satisfaction.

ROI (Return on Investment)

Evaluate the contribution of the marketing strategy to financial returns. Consider the costs of marketing activities and compare them to the revenue generated. ROI analysis will help determine how effectively marketing resources are being utilized and which marketing channels or tools are most profitable.

Testing and Experimentation

Conduct tests and experiments to measure the impact of changes in your marketing strategy. For example, you can conduct A/B testing to evaluate the effectiveness of different versions of an ad message or a landing page.

Remember that evaluating the effectiveness of your marketing strategy is an ongoing process. Regularly track metrics, analyze data, and make adjustments to your strategy to achieve the best results.