A marketing strategy is the same as a plan? Right? Wrong!
There are a few reasons why your business might be flagging or in fact, failing and far too often they are easy(ish) to fix. As a business owner or manager, you have a great product or service, know it will work and activate your marketing, but – there is no incoming revenue or tangible business. You have launched a marketing campaign after campaign and cannot understand why they are not working. The marketing plan is updated, the agency replaced, and the team upskilled, but still no success. Yes, there are a lot of ways to look at the marketing plan, but until you have your marketing strategy airtight, you will continue to see unsatisfactory results.
You probably already know what needs to go into a marketing strategy as it should be supporting the overall company business plan (and the reason why you wake up in the morning). Here are my top five reasons why you need a marketing strategy before you prepare your marketing plan.
1. Objectives
Setting clear objectives as you work through developing your marketing strategy is vital to align teams across your business. These seemingly innocuous statements help to guide with laser focus what will mostly affect the P&L. To apply the correct marketing tactic, they need to be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely). A vague objective is a recipe for disaster as they are open to interpretation. Consider asking your team to achieve this objective; “grow Facebook engagement”. A little vague? How about, “Facebook engagement during the next quarter should increase to 5% up 0.5% from the previous quarter – additional budget allocated based on the current boosting metrics available.” See the difference?
2. Edge
Developing a marketing strategy gives you an edge over your competitors. By reviewing what they are doing well and how it applies to your business, you will be able to see blind spots or audiences they are underserving. From here, you can target these audiences and carve out a new market for yourself. If you think you have the only great idea, think again, there are logical and apparent conclusions which everyone will make. When you create your marketing strategy you can innovate and be more relevant to your desired target audience.
3. Focus
If you have not put down your marketing strategy, it is super easy to get distracted and chase the next shiny opportunity that appears. The latest new social media widget or a sponsorship opportunity takes you off course, and you lose the impact of the marketing activities you have already undertaken. These are some of the biggest challenges as there are so many different ways to market, but one cannot do them all. Marketing needs a strong foundation to be successful, and this is what the marketing strategy gives you. For your team and key stakeholders to be successful, they need to have access to this plan for their daily decision-making.
4. Success
If you do not know what your focus is as a business, you are setting yourself up for failure. The adage “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” is so true in this instance. Without a solid marketing strategy, the marketing plan cannot be effective. The strategy is the heart of the business, and all marketing plans created from the strategy. It tells you how your business is positioned in the market, who are your competitors and why are you in business. No marketing can be useful when your teams are assuming your vision and mission and the steps you are taking to get there. It does not need to be a long-winded or complicated document, one page can suffice but must be well thought out, and all stakeholders included in its development.
5. Resources
Last but not least, the marketing strategy allows you to review the resources you have and build an actionable marketing plan. We are all creative and able to develop many marketing solutions; however, without the correct provisions of people, technology and systems, one can quickly lose momentum. With these articulated in the marketing strategy, you will be able to build a solid marketing plan to achieve your business goals and create a unique positioning for years ahead.
There are four areas to consider when putting a marketing strategy together, and the best way is to conduct a workshop with an unbiased third party. Take a cross-section of the business and discuss the below points and to review your current activities.
1. Where is your business now or the Situation Analysis?
2. What business are you really in; usually your Vision and Mission?
3. How are you going to get there, which includes strategies, plans, goals and objectives?
4. How do we know when we are there? Which metrics to measure for success.
Your marketing strategy is likely to be reviewed quarterly to see what has changed and how the marketing plans have achieved the necessary results.
How often does your company review the marketing strategy and does everyone who influences the business use for their day to day decision making tasks? Let me know in the comments below as I would love to hear how your business is using their marketing strategy.
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