The Power of Marketing Strategy
If you are overwhelmed with the sudden boom of the most thrown-around word ‘Marketing Strategy’ and possibly wondering to yourself, “What exactly is Marketing Strategy?” Read on.
We have covered all that you need to know about strategic marketing and the ways you can use it to unleash its power.
What is Marketing Strategy?
Let us start with understanding the most basic part of it. What is Strategic Marketing?-It is basically, the technique or the system where the organization chooses to focus on its unique strengths to better its product or service to the customer which in order differentiates itself from its competitor.
You can unlock the execution part of it by breaking down to these three major questions in comparison with your contemporaries -When, Where, and How?
If you have answers to these three you can gain clarity and proceed towards the core part of it easily- Planning and Execution. Before we move on towards why we should adopt strategic marketing let us see the benefit a strong strategic plan offers which motivates us to adopt it in our organization.
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What are the perks of Strategic Marketing?
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It makes us full proof ready already ‘Action before reaction’:
Yes, you guessed it right. Adopting strategic marketing in an organization gives it the power to anticipate the consequences prior hand which can be good or bad but the power to foresee can be utilized properly by taking the necessary action to avoid the fuss if it went unpredicted.
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Gives us a sense of direction:
The potential of a well-directed venture isn’t something hidden from the people.
A business that knows where it is heading has a purposeful yet fulfilling journey and can ease down the complications which a business always throws in each of its stages or phases. And, a strategic plan exactly does that to the business it gives a strong sense of direction.
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Elevates functional efficiency:
One of the main parts of the growth in business is operational efficiency. With the strategic marketing plan, the objectives of the goals set are achieved easily.
From management discussions to the budget requirement, everything is taken care of smoothly without any road blockers provided the plan is followed and executed thoroughly.
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Assists in the growth of market shares and other profits:
If a strategic marketing plan is followed up sincerely, it has the potential to turn the efforts put into profits in monetary terms and other related desirable results since it obtains valuable insights into the latest market trends.
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Increases the ‘life of the business’ – makes it durable.
The main purpose of any business owner should be and is to sustain its business and not stop it once it gains profit. They want to keep the business going and hence their primary goal or aim should always be to make the business sustainable irrespective of what may.
A strategic marketing plan here plays a major role. It stresses the system which makes the foundation of the business strong, making it sustainable such that even if the market trends keep changing the business stays unshakable due to the strong and deep roots of the strategic plan.
If we further want to delve deep into some famous examples of the use of strategic marketing to gain value-packed insights we can study the strategic marketing plans of brands like- GoPro, Spotify, McDonald’s, Nike Coca Cola, etc. They are successful achievers of using strategic marketing to leverage their business.
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Roadmap to implement Strategic Marketing in an organization
Often organizations who want to adopt the method of strategic marketing get lost in the process or don’t understand where to start from the process of strategic marketing. Here is a two-step solution to setting it up namely the planning and execution phase.
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The phase of Planning: The planning phase is the most crucial phase in any venture if the planning is appropriate, rest is assured provided it is followed dedicatedly, same is the case with a strategic marketing plan. The planning phase can further be subdivided into- SWOT analysis and setting the intention.
A] SWOT analysis: It is a very well-known practice, as the abbreviation SWOT says strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats of the business is analyzed and gathered.
B] Setting the intention: With the information gathered from the SWOT analysis the intentions for the organization are set by setting up the goals which aid in the process of designing or preparation of the precise strategies that particular business needs.
Once the goals are set related to the product or service the business provides, the strategy can be designed with the help of the ‘ Four P’s pillar of marketing’- Product, Place, Price, People, and Promotion.
With this information, we can proceed towards the implementation on the basis of the intentions set and strategies made.
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The phase of Implementation: As the name is self-explanatory, in this phase the strategies made are implemented in four steps- a collection of resources, following a marketing hierarchy, following the schedule, executing the plan, and finally evaluation.
Explaining each step briefly:
1. Collection of Resources: Collecting the funds required which can be an asset in the development of the product or services of the organization.
2. Following a Marketing Hierarchy: A hierarchy of marketing should be set in order to ensure the proper flow of the strategies laid to come to fruition.
3. Following the Schedule: A specific schedule must be followed in which specific times, dates are followed of the specific tasks allocated according to the planned hierarchy of the strategies.
4. Execution: In this phase, the strategies are executed, one major thing that needs to be kept in mind is to follow this step with utmost efficiency since this is the most crucial step and the whole results are determined and dependent on it. So, whatsoever no risk must be taken while executing the marketing strategies which have been carefully curated.
5. Evaluation: This is like the testing phase based on its input the necessary changes are made or the proceeds if not needed. It is like the green flag to the process done up till now, here the scope of improvement and the progress made is tracked.
This was the gist of the power of strategic marketing and the ways you can use it. Hope you find this insightful and that it motivates you to take steps in this direction if you haven’t already applied in your organization.
