There are hundreds of marketing tactics. A marketing strategy will help you choose.
Strategy is a matter of charting your course between a beginning and an end point; thinking about what will take you from point A to point B — from where you are now (current status) to where you want to go (objective). A strategy should be efficient and effective. It will help you make the most of your marketing resources, whether that's money, time, labor or skills. Every marketing action you take should be based on a rational decision made at the strategic level. That's how you maximize your marketing resources.
A marketing strategy can take into account a whole business model, or it may be applied to a specific area of marketing, such as pricing strategy, distribution strategy, campaign strategy; even social media marketing strategy.
A marketing strategy can take into account a whole business model, or it may be applied to a specific area of marketing, such as pricing strategy, distribution strategy, campaign strategy; even social media marketing strategy.
SHORT TERM VS. LONG TERM
Time Matters
Think about the timing of the end results you want to achieve. It will help you set priorities in terms of available resources within that period of time. For example, if you only have so much money for the next 3 months, determine what is achievable in the next 3 months. It also will help you align other aspects of your business with your marketing strategy.
Marketing Strategy Components
If you're not familiar with the terms, see our list of marketing definitions
|
Positioning
Branding Messaging |
Budget
Schedule |
Marketing Strategy is Not a List of Tactics
Most non-marketers think of tactics first. In my experience working with hundreds of small businesses, these include search engine marketing, websites, advertising and personal sales and networking. These days, I’m getting more and more questions like, “What is social networking?” and “Do I really need to write a blog?”
These questions are difficult to answer with any certainty without a clear strategy. Deciding on a tactic first, without understanding the audience, what they care about, and what needs to be communicated, is like a shot in the dark. It’s often why small businesses waste a lot of money on advertising that gets no results, thousands of misdirected pieces of mail (yes, you’ve probably been the recipient of several pieces of junk mail yourself – the marketer’s definition of junk mail is “untargeted”), participation in expensive trade shows, proposals lost, unread emails, etc.
These questions are difficult to answer with any certainty without a clear strategy. Deciding on a tactic first, without understanding the audience, what they care about, and what needs to be communicated, is like a shot in the dark. It’s often why small businesses waste a lot of money on advertising that gets no results, thousands of misdirected pieces of mail (yes, you’ve probably been the recipient of several pieces of junk mail yourself – the marketer’s definition of junk mail is “untargeted”), participation in expensive trade shows, proposals lost, unread emails, etc.
How to Start Thinking Strategically
1. Define your business objectives first — for example, by revenue or number of customers within a certain period of time.
2. Your business objectives should then inform marketing objectives. Break it down into the 4 major areas, referred to as the Marketing Mix or the 4 P's of marketing: Product, Price, Place (Distribution) and Promotion.
For example, if you want to increase revenue, you might think about how to use promotion to grow, or find new products to sell to existing customers. If you want to increase your margins, you need to think about cutting costs or increasing your prices. These form the basis of your marketing strategy.
3. From there, if you want to grow your audience, make a list of the ways you could achieve that. For example, increase the number of people who visit your website. Then, the list of tactics become pretty clear, from optimizing your website for search (AKA SEO) to doing more networking at local events. This would all be wrapped up in a strategic communications plan, which would ultimately include appropriate tactics, like sales materials, public relations, advertising, Web marketing, schedule, budget, etc.
4. Organize all those into a marketing calendar or list with milestones and deadlines — here's my favorite free tool for keeping it all organized. You'll then have a real plan you can put into action.
2. Your business objectives should then inform marketing objectives. Break it down into the 4 major areas, referred to as the Marketing Mix or the 4 P's of marketing: Product, Price, Place (Distribution) and Promotion.
For example, if you want to increase revenue, you might think about how to use promotion to grow, or find new products to sell to existing customers. If you want to increase your margins, you need to think about cutting costs or increasing your prices. These form the basis of your marketing strategy.
3. From there, if you want to grow your audience, make a list of the ways you could achieve that. For example, increase the number of people who visit your website. Then, the list of tactics become pretty clear, from optimizing your website for search (AKA SEO) to doing more networking at local events. This would all be wrapped up in a strategic communications plan, which would ultimately include appropriate tactics, like sales materials, public relations, advertising, Web marketing, schedule, budget, etc.
4. Organize all those into a marketing calendar or list with milestones and deadlines — here's my favorite free tool for keeping it all organized. You'll then have a real plan you can put into action.
Our Approach to Marketing Strategy
We help business owners make the right decisions about marketing their businesses in the most effective and efficient ways possible. That starts with identifying objectives correctly and putting the right strategies into place, way before we worry about tactics.
Find out how we can take your business to the next level.
