What is a Marketing Strategy – and Why Do Businesses Need It?

Many of our prospective clients ask me about marketing strategy. Interestingly, we’ve noticed that many online searches are around that very question: what is the definition of marketing strategy?

Glad you asked!

The cart or the horse? Put your marketing strategy first!

At its core, the practice of marketing is all the various advertising and promotion activities your company does to gain new customers and retain existing ones. Your marketing strategy, in a nutshell, encompasses how you’ll reach prospects and convert them to customers or clients. It is the foundation upon which all your marketing activities will be built and has a few key components:

• Target customer – who will benefit from using your product or service? Is there a secondary customer profile as well?
• Value proposition – Think of this as the “what’s in it for them.” What does your business offer its target customers and what is your competitive advantage in your market or vertical?
• Key marketing messages – what are the selling points of your product or service?
• Overall goal(s) – these can be concrete or soft, such as building market share by X percent, growing revenues by Y dollars, or developing a wider following.

In short, a marketing strategy definition is that it comprises the elements (the “what”) that will inform the eventual marketing plan (the “how”). Marketing strategy is the long-term approach to how you’ll reach your goals, rather than the short-term tactics your team will take along the way.

(NOTE: In a previous post, we shared insights about strategic marketing and marketing plans and we’ll continue that conversation in the future—I promise!)

The marketing mix
Part of developing the marketing strategy for your small business is to identify the 4Ps of marketing: product (your goods or services), price (what customers will pay for them), place (where are they available), and promotion (what you’ll do to communicate benefits and features to your customers). Depending on the industry or field that you’re in—whether in technology, financial services, non-profit, retail, hospitality, etc.—your marketing/promotion activities will vary. That’s where your marketing plan comes in.

We’ll pick this up in our next blog article but in the meantime, we invite you to contact Rapunzel Creative to request our complimentary marketing assessment for your business. As a full-service marketing agency working with clients across a range of industries.  We help companies clearly define their marketing strategy so they stand out in their marketplace and drive results.