How do you plan on getting ahead?
Whether you’re about to launch a business or you’re already in the swing of things but not leveling up quite as quickly as you’d like to, you probably know that marketing is one tool that can help give you a competitive edge.
But marketing isn’t just a tool — it’s a tool with enormous potential.
The key is knowing what you want and how you’re going to achieve it. Enter strategic marketing and the process designed to help you attract attention, captivate new customers, and build your brand.
What is the strategic marketing process?
The strategic marketing process is the actual planning, implementation, and analysis that goes into creating and executing a marketing plan. The guidelines created will serve as a roadmap for your in-house marketing team and any hired hands to understand
- your goals
- who you’re targeting
- and what actionable steps you’ll be taking to get from A to Z.
How we approach the process is a 5 step process:
It’s important to understand that the strategic marketing process isn’t just a mission statement that talks about a desirable outcome.
Done correctly, strategic marketing is
- Clear
- Specific
- and includes built-in mechanisms for measuring efficacy so you know where you started, where you currently are, and what you need to do to achieve an optimal result.
The 3 steps of the strategic marketing process
The strategic marketing process can be broken up into three steps:
- Planning:
- Every great marketing strategy starts with the planning process, otherwise known as mountains of research. You may think you know your business, but there are aspects to the brand you’ve built that need to be explored more than ever before.
- Information about your strengths, weaknesses, tech assets, competition, financial health, and target audience helps inform the rest of the planning phase, including listing your goals and figuring out how you’ll check off all those boxes.
- Analysis and Implementation: Now you’ll dig into your mountain of data and figure out
- a) what resources you have at your disposal, and
- b) how you’ll use those resources. For example, you might set your budget or obtain funding, then decide which media platforms you’ll leverage and lay out a content schedule.
- Evaluation: As the campaign or campaigns run, your marketing team will constantly check key metrics and evaluate the results.
- This might mean seeing which PPC ads have the best conversion rate or your customer acquisition cost. Money can be shifted towards the approaches that are working best and budgets dialed back on those channels that might be as effective.
Why is strategic marketing important?
Strategic marketing is what keeps you from skydiving without a parachute.
Launching a new product or starting or expanding a business is always risky. But with strategic marketing, you’re laying groundwork that allows you to understand your business, connect with customers, and outwit the competition. You’re primed to make the most of every penny, and that’s priceless. Still not convinced? This may convince you- believe it.
This is your time to tell your story in a compelling, engaging and action oriented marketing strategy.
You’re the best fit for your clients- they just don’t know it yet- tell them.
