Tackling marketing by throwing some Facebook ads at the wall and seeing what sticks may seem like the easy, stress-free route to entrepreneurial success, but it’s actually the exact opposite. To make your product and service stand out and maximize efficiency, it’s important to understand and rely on the power of strategic marketing.
What is Strategic Marketing?
In the simplest terms possible, strategic marketing is marketing with a purpose. Instead of skimming a guide on how to run Google ads or using pre-set audiences for your campaign targeting, you’re formulating a complex, comprehensive plan based on oodles of data. With strategic marketing, you can target the right people at the right time in the right place with the right message. That’s doing a lot of things the right way all at one time.
Why is Strategic Marketing Important?
All the research and analysis involved in strategic marketing strengthens a company’s standing exponentially. It not only tells you how you can compete, it also defines your competitive edge and tells you where and when to display it. While so much of the world is focused on tactical marketing — the actions taken to communicate with consumers or share details of a product or service — strategic marketing is the true meat and potatoes.
Strategic marketing can help you:
- Understand the current health of your business
- Segment the market
- Connect with the right demographic
- Generate leads that are more likely to convert
- Identify and pursue realistic goals
- Use your resources (time, money, labor) wisely
What Happens Without Strategic Marketing?
There’s a pithy saying that states, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Businesses that attempt to market without a strategy risk frittering away their marketing budget and wasting time. It’s like sailing without a compass. And the tricky thing about bad marketing (which is definitely what you’re dealing with when you take a sound strategy out of the picture), is that it’s difficult to come back from. Yes, you may lose money, but you may also lose the trust of your audience. You may even lose that audience to your competitors.
Imagine sending out an ad with random messaging that doesn’t speak to your core audience. You haven’t failed to make an impression, you’ve made an impression that doesn’t accurately reflect what your company stands for or what you have to offer. Invest in a strategy and your marketing is exponentially more likely to deliver.
The old days of using the same formulaic marketing strategy for every business regardless of niche, audience or budget is over. Modern-era promotions and e-commerce are about customization, and that’s exactly what’s at the very core of strategic marketing. To get even further ahead of the competition, check out our rundown on the strategic marketing planning process and swap out spontaneity for a business blueprint that will really work.
