What is a Marketing Strategy? The definition
A company’s marketing strategy refers to the long-term planning to convert potential consumers into customers of the products or services that the company provides. It is essentially aimed at encouraging a target audience to purchase specific products or services. Another definition is an organization’s overall plan of action to gain sustainable competitive advantage by understanding and responding to customer needs and desires.
What is a Marketing Strategy? The definition
A company’s marketing strategy refers to the long-term planning to convert potential consumers into customers of the products or services that the company provides. It is essentially aimed at encouraging a target audience to purchase specific products or services. Another definition is an organization’s overall plan of action to gain sustainable competitive advantage by understanding and responding to customer needs and desires.
Well-known marketing theorists such as Philip Kotler continued to debate the exact meaning of a marketing strategy. Many of the definitions refer to a broad explanation of what is to be achieved in the marketing field.
A good strategy includes the company’s value proposition, objectives, demographics of target customers, all elements of the 4P marketing mix and more. No strategy can start without first determining the business goals. Only then can business objectives be set for different marketing plans.
The 4P marketing mix is one of the best known marketing concepts. It contains the four basic pillars of any marketing strategy, namely product, price, place and promotion. The product is what the company sells or supplies. Price refers to how much the seller charges for the product. The place is the location from which the product is sold or advertised. Finally, the P for promotion refers to the taken actions aimed at promoting the product or service.
A distinction is made between a marketing strategy as described above and strategic marketing. Strategic marketing is about policies aimed at improving the company’s competitive position. Here the organization takes into account threats and opportunities in the market that are offered by the structure of the competitive environment. Tools used for this include the PEST analysis and the SWOT analysis. Marketing strategy is more about the grand vision translated into practical and specific goals.
An important part of a good strategy is understanding the potential customers throughout the entire customer journey. Understanding is the key to good customer service. A lot is learned about the customers from these interactions. A good marketing strategy means that customers are so well understood that their needs and expectations can be anticipated. In addition, there are supporting techniques and methods for analyzing customer behavior. Examples include the AARRR framework, Customer Mapping Experience, the Empathy Map, the 6W Model of Customer Analysis, the SIVA model and market research.
A distinction is made between marketing techniques related to Business to Consumer (B2C) and Business to Business (B2B). Different types of marketing strategies are possible in both forms.
Relationship marketing is aimed at building relationships with customers. This benefits customer loyalty. In transactional marketing, the retailer encourages customers to buy from them with discounts, coupons or events. This increases the sales opportunities and motivates the target group to buy the products. Internet marketing, also called cloud marketing, is aimed at selling over the internet.
All marketing techniques are related to the internet and are applied via various platforms. Direct marketing, content marketing, video marketing, affiliate marketing, hunger marketing, viral marketing, word of mouth and paid advertising are also part of the marketing strategies.
What are the best known and effective strategy models and methods? How do I use the theories and models to develop a good marketing strategy myself? What should I consider when implementing a new marketing strategy? The articles linked to strategy are about methods, techniques and best practices related to marketing and about the different ways in which a strategy is applied.
