Marketing Strategy - The Key Elements

Developing a sound Marketing Strategy is crucial for all businesses alike and should be on every company’s top priority. The acceptable practice is to take into consideration business objectives, organisational strengths and weaknesses, the competition and customer profile, as well as other factors, when developing a robust marketing strategy. A well-designed strategy would be easy to implement as well as provide companies with a clear roadmap to success. This article has highlighted the important factors that should be considered while developing a marketing strategy.

The Vision

The company vision is usually an organisation’s most ambitious objective, almost like a dream that seems impossible to achieve. It answers the question “Why are we here?” and ideally it should never change, unless major external or internal circumstances make it irrelevant. The company vision should ideally include strategic focus, inspiration, and motivation.

The Mission

Along with the vision, the company mission provides shareholders, management and employees with a sense of direction, pride and purpose. It drives them to work towards a common goal as a team rather than separate entities.

When drafting the company mission, one needs to consider:

• What market/s does the company operate in?
• What demand does its products/services satisfy?
• What is the core benefit it provides to its customers?
• What demographic does the company serve? 

Target Market 

Companies need to be definitive about the industry sectors, geographical areas, and the typical end user that the business chooses to serve. The strategy document should provide a clear segmentation of the market, based on criteria like geography, socio-economic classification, as well as, product-related information amongst others. The factors that influence the end-user’s buying behaviour (social, cultural, personal or psychological) will also be identified here. A good understanding of these aspects help employees (especially the sales force ) focus on what is really important to improve overall sales.

Competitor Analysis

To establish an effective differentiation strategy, it is important to take a close look at the company’s competition. The competitive analysis will factor in product offering, pricing strategy, distribution channels and promotional activities. The good news is that the explosion of new communication channels has made it more accessible for businesses to obtain competitive market information than before.

SWOT Analysis

An in-depth and honest look at the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is the foundation on which any strategy is built. It is also one of the most difficult exercises to implement as team leaders tend to magnify the strengths and minimize the weaknesses in the company. For an analysis to be effective, all departments within the company must be considered, to generate genuine results. 

Marketing Objectives

Developing an effective Marketing strategy starts with clearly defined objectives. Once the SWOT analysis has been carried out the team can establish the medium and long-term marketing objectives that support the overall business strategic plan. The objectives have to be realistic, quantifiable, controllable and measurable. To make these objectives comprehensible to all stakeholders, it is recommended to segregate them into primary and secondary objectives in the order of importance.

Below is an example:

Primary objective:

• 10% overall sales growth year-on-year.

Secondary objectives:

• Increase brand awareness by 20% in five years
• Expand to two international markets in the next three years.

Differentiation Strategy

A company has to highlight its competitive advantage and what makes its offering different from its competitors. Without a strong differentiation, that can be communicated regularly, the only strategy left is to compete on price. Currently businesses differentiate themselves based on product (features, manufacturing process, performance or even design), service (speed of delivery, availability, loyalty programs, warranty and after sales service), personnel, emotional quotient, country of origin (i.e perception of items in relation to country of manufacture, France for perfumes, Italy for fashion, Switzerland for watches and China for low cost manufacturing) or even distribution channel. 

Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

The USP represents the summary of the differentiation strategy, and is most commonly a slogan, or tagline. A well-chosen USP is meaningful for the long term, easy to remember, and creates preference for your brand. Read more about what makes a good product/service tagline here.

Brand Image

Brand Image is the perception the company wants to create in the mind of its consumers. Brand image is based on a theme that is developed over time and consistently communicated via different marketing initiatives. 

Marketing Strategies

Perhaps the most important chapter of the strategy document, Marketing Strategies provides the company with the direction to be followed in order to accomplish its Marketing objectives. The company’s differentiation strategy is crucial here, as various elements in the overall marketing campaign have to be revised to support it. Choosing a specific strategy also depends on whether the business is a leader (one who has established themselves in the market as being the best-selling brand), challenger (one who is usually the number two brand in the segment), follower or a niche player.

To illustrate the point, let’s use the primary objective above (“10% overall sales growth year-on-year”) and think of a few strategies that could help accomplish it. We could for example:

• Introduce five products each year that could contribute 2% to the overall year-on-year growth
• Add the Internet as a new direct distribution channel to increase sales
• Introduce a new line of product/service for a segment the company is not currently servicing

Product Strategy

By studying the product offered by the company, it is possible to divide (if applicable) into categories, sub-categories and classes. Product strategy also helps us identify the unique features of the product/service offering that separates them from their competition. The product life cycle (introduction, growth, maturity and decline) has a direct influence on the overall Marketing strategy.

Distribution Strategy

No product or service, no matter how great it is, will be successful if it is not easily available to the target audience. Choosing the right distribution channel depends on the type of product being offered and the end-user’s buying behaviour. The overall customer experience and brand satisfaction of a product depends on a properly implemented distribution channel.

Pricing Strategy

One of the most crucial aspects of a marketing campaign is the price of the product/ service. A competitively priced product/service, influences the purchase decision and if executed correctly, generates the correct brand association. The marketing strategy document should therefore, clearly identify the pricing segment they are competing in with relation to its competitors. Hyundai Genesis, for example, has been created to compete in the premium price segment. As a new entrant to the category, the vehicle is priced 10% lower than the segment leader Mercedes-Benz.

Promotional Strategy

A promotional strategy is also crucial to a solid marketing strategy and includes guidelines for promoting the company’s offering through various communication tools. Decisions have to be made on whether the campaign would use a ‘push strategy’, ‘pull strategy’, or a combination of both (which is the case with most companies).

A ‘Push Strategy’ forces the company’s offering through its distribution channels, who thereby are responsible for generating end user awareness and purchase. A ‘push strategy’ uses personal selling and trade shows to promote the product.

A ‘Pull Strategy’ generates end-user awareness by skipping the middle man, and by relying heavily on mediums such as advertising, social media and end-user promotions to promote the product.

Implementation

Once the strategy is set in place, it is implemented through various carefully selected marketing programs which require budgets to be allocated for the identified initiatives to achieve the desired outcome. The marketing strategy documents should list project managers responsible for coordination, as well as, meeting the budgets and deadlines.

Feedback and Control

These elements are important in order to maintain the relevance of the strategy. Most macro-economic factors remain fairly consistent over time. Others, such as competition, pricing, distribution channel can change yearly or even monthly. The company has to put in place effective tools to monitor and track these changes in order to respond promptly.

This framework has been conceptualised based on my personal experience in developing Marketing strategies for numerous companies. These can be adapted to meet your individual needs and the specificity of each market segment.