Marketing Strategy
Marketing strategy is an issue that requires you to be very clear about your business goals. A good marketing strategy does not only mean a strategy that heavily depends on technology and digital development. Instead, the marketing strategy should be all about achieving goals. It's also a required step to take when using marketing automation. You can read this article to learn what is marketing automation.
The success of the marketing strategy is measured against the goals that were set at the beginning. If the goal is to persuade the customer to call the company, for example, but the customer does not, the marketing strategy has failed, no matter how expensive or creative. This does not mean that the marketing strategy is not creative or innovative. However, if the goals are not met, the strategy is not considered successful.
Two main activities should be carried out for the design of marketing strategy:
- Selecting the target market:
By target market, it is meant to whom the company wants to sell its products. Accordingly, conducting in-depth marketing research on the characteristics and special needs of the customers is critical in selecting the target market.
2. Adding marketing mix
By marketing mix is meant how the company proposes to sell its products. The company has to collect the four P's of marketing in the appropriate combination. Setting up the marketing mix is an important part of the marketing strategy.
What is a Marketing Strategy?
Marketing strategy allows companies to focus on available resources. In this way, it is ensured that resources are used in the best possible way to increase sales and to gain a competitive advantage.
In other words, marketing strategies are a comprehensive plan specifically designed to achieve the company's marketing goals. Also, the marketing plan is the building block. It is expected to be designed after detailed marketing research. Marketing strategies help an organization focus on the best possible opportunities to increase sales.
How to Create a Marketing Strategy?
In order to reach marketing goals, the activity model components should be analyzed on the basis of various layers, and productivity/improvement opportunities for the future should be determined. In addition, while all layers are questioned, the levels of digitalization are determined and areas of development are determined.
Marketing or not, any strategy has three stages:
1) Diagnosis of the problem, problem,
2) A guiding policy to deal with the and
3) A set of targeted actions required to carry out the policy.
Each component of the Marketing Activity Model; institutionalization, sustainability, optimum cost, and internal/external customer satisfaction needs to be addressed in a way to respond.
Implementing the Strategy
In accordance with the previous discussion, the following questions should be asked to achieve marketing strategies within the scope of SWOT Analysis:
- What are your company's current marketing goals and objectives?
- Do your marketing goals and objectives consistently match the company's mission? If it is consistent why? If not, why?
- Do the marketing and changes in the customer environment match the company's goals and objectives? Why is that?
- Is the performance of your current marketing strategy (when evaluated in terms of sales volume, market share, profitability, and customer awareness) at a level that satisfies you?
- How is your performance when you compare yourself to your competitors in the industry? Do you think it is enough? Looking at the sector in general, what is the situation, is there a decrease or an increase? Why is that?
- If your performance is poor, what are the main reasons for this? Do your marketing goals and objectives consistently align with changes in the marketing environment and customer environment? Could your strategy be flawed? Is your strategy not giving the desired result due to the shortcomings and inadequacies in implementation?
- If we say that there is an increase in your performance, what measures and corrective actions are planned to sustain this increase in performance?
- Is this increase in performance due to the improvement of environmental factors you foresee better than your expectations or your head in implementing your high-level planning and strategy?
A Portfolio Analysis of Marketing Strategy
The strategic steps are always determined in accordance with the company’s priorities. Because the time and resources of an institution are limited. There will always be a situation where the company has to decide between two alternatives. In order to make this choice more rational and result-oriented, it is necessary to prioritize:
A- What can be done immediately: High value-means low-risk activities.
B- Planned to be Done: It means low value-low risk and high value-high risk activities.
C- Things to be Revised: Low value means high-risk activities.