What is Marketing Strategy?

No one starts a business without an aim.

Every brand you know of or hear about on the TV or the internet has business goals it desires to attain. However, without a strategy, suffice it to say that those goals will never see the light of day. These highlight the importance of marketing strategy to any and every business.

But what is marketing strategy?

A marketing strategy is a company’s comprehensive plan to attain its marketing objectives, which mirror its overall business goals.

A business’s foundational blueprint outlines its marketing goals and how those goals will be achieved. 

It is the breaking down of a business’s long-term marketing objectives.

When done right, a marketing strategy will help an organization maximize its limited marketing resources while ensuring the achievement of set marketing goals. 

If, for instance, a business marketing goal is to launch its product in the international market after the first ten years of operation, its marketing strategy can look something like this: 

– Marketing goal; launch into the international market after the first ten years of operation.
– Marketing strategy: Have branches in 5 foreign countries.

As the marketing goals of for-profit companies or brands are to promote their products or services to the right market, increase their conversion/profit rate, and gain an edge over competitors, their marketing strategies would be the ways they plan on achieving these goals.

An automobile company seeking to increase its conversion rate by 30% researches its target audience and needs. After this research, the company decided to upgrade old car models instead of manufacturing new ones. In this case, upgrading old car models is its strategy to achieve the 30% increase in conversion rate, which is its marketing goal.

Notice I said the company conducted market research before drawing up its strategy. 

This is because, for a marketing strategy to be effective, it needs to be built on the right mix of the 4ps of marketing which are:

– Product: Does your target market need your product? Does it have a unique selling point that gives you an edge over competitors?
– Price: How do you want your product/service to be perceived by your potential customers in terms of cost? As a high-end brand for the high-class, or a brand for all and sundry?
– Place: Is your product/service offered where your market is situated?
– Promotion: Are you boosting awareness about your product/service through the suitable medium(s)?

Implementing these 4ps of marketing to craft a marketing strategy would require comprehensive market research (more on these later). 

Importance Of Marketing Strategies To Your Company

Drawing up a marketing strategy will benefit your company for many reasons. 

Some of these benefits include:

1. Easily attain marketing goals. Take, for instance, the example I gave earlier about the car company desiring to achieve a 30% increase in its conversion rate. By planning to upgrade its old car models, the company takes the right step in the direction that will ultimately achieve its marketing goal.

2. Increase in conversion rate and profit. Companies aren’t built to make losses, and an effective marketing strategy built on the right mix of the 4ps of marketing would ensure that companies make their desired profit by taking the correct steps.

3. Comprehend your target audience. One advantage of the 4ps of marketing is that it helps brands understand their target market – who they are, their needs, and what they expect from a product/service.

4. Stay relevant. Reviewing your marketing strategy helps your brand stay relevant as you will always know what your market wants and how they want it.

5. An edge over competitors. In addition to staying relevant because you understand your target market, you will also gain an edge over competitors in the same field. 

6. Gain customer loyalty. People tend to be loyal to a brand that understands them.

Marketing Strategy Vs. Marketing Plan? Know The Difference

Like I once did, you might have used marketing strategy and plan in the same sentence, thinking they mean one thing. 

Although, on the surface, they appear to refer to the same thing – the sneaky stuff, these two terms are distinct. 

Marketing strategy answers WHAT? 

What do you want to achieve as a brand? 

What plans do you need to make to move in the direction that will lead to your marketing goals? 

Marketing plan answers HOW? 

How will you achieve those plans you have laid out in your marketing strategy?

Your marketing plan will include the tactics you apply to achieve your strategy.

Still using the automobile company example from earlier, here is what the company’s marketing goal, strategy, and plan will look like:

– Marketing goal – achieve a 30% increase in conversion rate
– Marketing strategy – upgrade old car models
– Marketing plan – use the latest auto technology during manufacturing

Another example is a food brand that wants to launch into the international market:

– Marketing goal – Launch into the global market
– Marketing strategy – Have franchises in five foreign countries: France, Nigeria, China, the UK, and the US.
– Marketing plan – Promote a 70/30 ownership of the franchises to interested persons using social media and the company’s website.

I should mention that each of these three, marketing goal, strategy, and plan, equals the other.

Knowing your company’s marketing aim will help you determine what plans you need to implement to achieve it. Knowing what plans to put in place leads you to discover how to implement this plan. 

Hence, it would be best if you did not jump from marketing goal to marketing plan without going through the marketing strategy. Else, you might crash.

Marketing Strategy Vs. Marketing Tactics? Knowing The Difference

Some people view marketing tactics as a marketing plan, while others see it as a subcategory under marketing plan – my school of thought. 

Regardless, marketing strategies are different from marketing tactics in the same way they are distinct from marketing plans. 

As I explained, marketing strategy has to do with WHAT? The ways you achieve your marketing goal while marketing tactics have to do with HOW? 

What are the precise actions you will take under the umbrella of your marketing plan to achieve your marketing strategy and ultimately attain your marketing goal?

Using the scenario of the food restaurant that desires to launch into the international market. Having decided on its marketing goals, strategy, and plans, such a restaurant may craft marketing tactics such as:

– Employ a copywriter to create five irresistible copies promoting the 70/30 franchise ownership,
– Optimize each copy to suit the requirements of each social media platform
– Use website analytics to monitor interactions with the copies

Usually, marketing tactics are straightforward, specific, and precise. 

Types Of Marketing Strategies

There are several types of marketing strategies available to B2C organizations. 

Here are the top 8.

1. Word-of-mouth marketing strategy
Also known as WOM strategy, word-of-mouth marketing strategy is free advertising. It creates buzz around your product/service to get people talking about it with their families and friends. 

As Andy Senorvitz, the author of Word of Mouth Marketing, explains, WOM is simply giving people a reason to talk about your product. 

It is the most inexpensive form of advertisement and, done correctly, yields a tremendous increase in a brand’s conversion and profit rate. 

Coca-cola, the world’s most popular soft drink, is an expert at this form of marketing strategy. Its Share a Coke and Happiness machine campaigns are a few examples of WOM marketing strategies the brand has employed to spread awareness about its product.

2. Cause marketing strategy
This form of marketing strategy is employed by brands when they spread awareness and show their support for a public cause or announce that they are raising funds for donation to a social issue. 

In the process, such companies promote their products/services, gain new customers who are ardent supporters of the cause, and induce brand loyalty among the old clients.

A good example is when Starbucks announced a 5-cent donation for every cup of coffee it sells to support World Aids day.

3. Paid marketing strategy
This strategy involves promoting your goods or products online to your potential customers based on their search queries, interest, or former interactions with your brand. 

It is a common marketing strategy whereby a company using its market’s digital footprints, promotes its product/service to the right audience. 

One benefit of this marketing strategy is that it allows brands to focus their marketing resources on groups within their target market. 

It also allows a business to take its product to its audience as opposed to hoping that they will one day, by a stroke of luck, stumble into its store. 

Examples of this marketing strategy are pop-up social media adverts and pay-per-click adverts.

4. Relationship marketing strategy
This marketing strategy focuses on gaining customers’ trust and building brand loyalty. 

It is a strategy that companies that desire to retain as many customers as they acquire. It centers on building long-lasting relationships with your target market and cultivating their commitment to your brand. 

Hence a company that sends gift cards to clients takes feedback or reviews on its products/services to show its market that it values their opinions and wants to meet their needs. 

5. Transactional marketing strategy
That is a transactional marketing strategy if you have bought an item from an unfamiliar brand simply because it was on discount. 

Unlike relationship marketing, transactional marketing strategy is used by businesses seeking to make quick sales. It involves using discounts, promos, coupons, etc., to attract competitors’ audiences for a short period and induce them to purchase your products and services.

6. Offline marketing strategy
Large brands and top companies use offline marketing to promote their products/services via traditional media channels like TVs, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc. 

Most often than not, this strategy is applied in addition to online marketing.

7. Diverse Marketing Strategy 
Diverse marketing is a marketing strategy employed by businesses with a target market composed of individuals with different beliefs, needs, attitudes, cultures, etc. 

It includes creating marketing strategies tailored to communicate these individuals’ distinct needs/preferences. 

8. Undercover marketing strategy
Also known as stealth marketing, it is a marketing strategy where brands advertise their products in a subtle, hidden way that the target market does not realize is a marketing strategy. 

A good instance is how giant King Kong footprints were forged on beaches to create a buzz and get people excited about the movie’s release. 

Regardless of the type of marketing strategy you opt for, there is one general rule – it should reflect the 4ps of marketing. Well, some say 7ps, actually, but I am sticking with the original. 

Attributed to Jerome McCarthy and Neil Borden, the 4ps are the main elements of an effective marketing strategy. 

Appropriately combined, the 4ps of marketing assist a brand in crafting a marketing strategy that promotes its goods/services to the right audience at the right price and in the right place.

The 4ps Of Marketing – The Foundation Of Every Marketing Strategy

If you are wondering what these 4ps of marketing comprise, here is a breakdown of what they are and why you should apply them in your brand’s marketing strategy.

1. Price 
Have you ever bought an item you thought was too cheap? Or one you thought was too expensive? We all have. 

The pricing pillar deals with the right price for a product or service. 

To attract only the high class, some companies will set a very high price bar on their items, while others may price their goods at lower costs to make them available to the public. The Bugatti and VW brands are good examples of the Volkswagen group. 

The Bugatti brand is for the wealthy in society who desire automobiles that indicate class and luxury, while the VW brand is for the middle class who want sturdy yet economical vehicles. The Bugatti La Voiture Noire will cost about $18.7 million, while VW Polo costs $25,250.

Although there is no rule of thumb on what price is the right price, there are many factors that businesses consider before placing a price on their product/service. Some of these factors include; cost of production, competitive pricing, occasional discounts, profit rate, etc. 

Aside from these factors, businesses can also conduct research in their market to determine their take on the intended price of the goods/service, the price they are willing to pay for it, how much is too much, etc.

2. Product 
What is your product/service? What is its distinct selling point?

To successfully implement this pillar, a business needs to know the current needs of the target audience and how its product/service can meet them. 

This would necessitate conducting market research on the target audience, their current needs, why they prefer a competitor to you, what they desire in the product, etc.

3. Place
Your product may be good and its price just right, but it is a futility exercise if your target customers cannot access it. 

This type of marketing strategy deals with identifying where your target audience is and how you can get your goods to them. 

You should know that place does not only mean physical location but could also mean online presence. With technology making the world a global village, your prospective audience may be on a platform, a website, or an app. 

The place could also mean where the items are displayed in a store; is it visible to your target market?. 

4. Promotion 
This pillar is about how you raise awareness about your product/service and generate sales. 

It involves answering questions like; 

– What mode of advertising is best? 
– How can you effectively promote your products to potential customers? 
– What are advertising channels most popular in your market? 
– Which will likely effectively communicate your brand’s message to a target audience? 
– How can you outdo competitors in your ads while still being unique?

Effectively promoting your product is like icing on the cake. 

The cake, which in this case is your product, may be good and of high quality, but if it is not enticing enough to attract your target market to boost conversion and sales, it wastes resources and time. 

Steps To Creating An Effective Marketing Strategy

Now that you know what a marketing strategy is, its benefits and why your business needs it, here are five steps you need to take to create a marketing strategy tailored to your brand.

1. Identify your business goals. 
Since marketing strategies are ways to achieve your brand’s marketing goals, which need to reflect your company’s overall objectives, it is vital to know what those company goals are. 

2. Identify your marketing objectives. 
The next thing you want to do is lay out your marketing goals that align with your brand’s overall aims. 

Your marketing goal cannot be to launch new products in the international sphere when your company’s goal is to be a localized business.

3. Research your target customers. 
Next is to research your prospective clients; their location, who they are, what they need, etc. 

4. Develop/profile your target market.
Who is your ideal customer? What attributes/characteristics do they possess? 

Profiling your target audience using the data you obtained from the market research helps you understand your customers. 

This knowledge, in turn, aids you in knowing what kind of marketing strategy will be effective.

5. Who are your competitors?
Know your competitors; who they are, what their unique selling point is, what marketing strategies they employ, etc.

With this information, you will know who or what your business is up against and how you can beat them.

Sun Tzu summarized it well; If you know your enemies and yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

6. Craft your marketing strategies by applying the 4ps of marketing.
After identifying your goals and profiling your target market and competitors, the next thing is to formulate marketing strategies. 

With the data gotten so far, creating a strategy that lays out steps to attain your marketing goals becomes easy. 

7. Apply
Finally, draw up a marketing plan and tactics that mirror the marketing strategies and test them on your market.

Conclusion

So, what is your marketing strategy?

Many tend to jump from identifying their goals to listing how they want to achieve them. However, without an effective marketing strategy, these people will find that the plans they employ are ineffective and cause a waste of marketing resources and time.

When done appropriately, marketing strategies allow businesses to break down their marketing goals into smaller, well-defined, achievable objectives, ensuring that every step and marketing tactic they apply reflects their overall goal. 

RELATED: The 4Ps of Marketing

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