Why Is A Marketing Strategy Important?
Why is a marketing strategy important? We can list, and we will, many reasons why you need a marketing strategy, but if you just want the headline – that one reason – it’s about return on investment. Without a strategy behind your marketing actions, you will very likely be wasting your time and money. If you find yourself muttering that your website isn’t getting you sales, or your adverts are going unnoticed, the problem may not be with your website or advert – it is likely to be with your marketing strategy.
What is a marketing strategy?
A very simple definition is “a plan of action designed to promote and sell a product or service”.
A marketing strategy is the plan that is made to attract potential customers and convert them into customers. It needs to be a long-term plan, that keeps all marketing activities working towards a common goal.
Marketing isn’t your website, your Google ads, or your leaflet. Marketing is identifying who your potential customer is, where they are, what they respond to, and what they will buy. Your marketing strategy may include a new website design, digital content marketing, and a brand consolidation but these will only give you the results you want if they fit your marketing strategy.
Why is a marketing strategy important?
A marketing strategy will ensure you understand your potential customers, and give them what they want. It will allow you to invest where your customer will best respond. The marketing strategy will help you decide what your website needs to look like, what your pricing should be, what your packaging should look like, your tone of voice, the colour of your logo – everything!!
In simple terms, a marketing strategy will give you a higher return on investment as all your marketing activities will be focused on your customer.
It’s all about the Ps
Any conversations about a marketing strategy will quickly introduce you to the 7Ps of marketing. If you are not sure where to start with a marketing strategy, this is a great framework to use:
Product
- What the customer needs to fulfil a want and give them their desired outcome
Price
- How much customers are willing to pay for your product. Not to be confused with the cost of producing the product but the price people are willing to pay for your specific product. Jeans on the high street range from £10 to £200 but could all be seen as “jeans”. Go back to Product, to make sure your product and price link together.
Promotion
- Social media, print, personal selling, advertising and events are all examples of promotion. Your strategy will identify where your customers are to help you focus your promotion on your customer.
Place
- Where you sell your product. This could be on the high street, virtually, through third parties, or through events. Again, dictated by where your target customer prefers to shop.
People
- Having the right people working with you to achieve your marketing strategy.
Packaging
- How you present your product to the customer. This may not be physical packaging as such if providing a service but could be about the service delivery.
Process
- How you deliver your product to customers
Focus your message
Once you have worked through the 7Ps, you can create a message which focuses on the benefits of your product/service, and why a potential customer should opt for your solution. This can be used to start the design brief for your website, the ideas for your content marketing plan, and influence your visual branding.
A marketing strategy will give you success
A marketing strategy will enable you to identify and focus on your customers, ensuring that your product, price, and process will meet your customers’ needs, and you will promote and sell it, where your customers are. It will give you a fantastic return on investment in all your marketing activities, set you apart from your competitors and give your business a great platform to grow from.
Still not sure you need a marketing strategy? Or maybe you have a strategy, but are worried you need a bit of a review as you may not have covered everything needed? Give us a call. We would love to have a chat and see how we can help.
