Marketing strategies are written documents that communicate your plans for product development, promotion, distribution and pricing, as well as your company's marketing goals and objectives. Marketing strategies and communication go hand-in-hand because your strategy helps you communicate important information about your promotional tactics to important stakeholders, such as your internal management team or external investors.
Goals
All marketing strategies begin by communicating your marketing goals and objectives. To determine your company's goals, it helps to get input from several different people, including top-level management and your sales and marketing team. Once you get feedback from your team, use that information to write goals that are specific, actionable, measurable and straightforward. For example, rather than saying, "Use marketing to increase sales" you could say, "Use direct marketing to increase our online sales by 12 percent by May 2011."
Product Positioning
Marketing strategies should also communicate your product strategy, which outlines how you position your products in the marketplace. To determine your positioning, you need to take several steps. First, create a detailed list of features and benefits. Then, list the competitive strengths and weaknesses of your products compared to your competitors' products. Next, identify any opportunities and threats in the marketplace you foresee in the coming year. Once you have all this information, use it to create your positioning statement, which is an essential part of your marketing strategy that communicates your company's focus area. For example, "For small health care businesses, Product XYZ is lead generation portal that helps companies increase their number of sales leads up to 20 percent."
Pricing
The pricing component of a marketing strategy is typically determined by your product positioning. For example, if part of your positioning statement is to be the "low-cost leader," then you should communicate the fact that you charge lower prices than your competitors. The two main approaches to a pricing strategy are cost-based pricing, which is when you base your pricing model on the costs of production plus your expected profit, or value-based pricing, which is based more on economic forces, such as supply and demand. For example, when demand is higher for your products, you can charge more, and vice versa.
Communications
The communications component of a marketing strategy refers to how you promote your company and products. Communications strategies can help you effectively market your product or service; build a brand image for your product or company; and develop lasting relationships with customers. Examples of communications tactics you can include in your marketing strategy are networking at conferences and trade shows; public relations; web marketing; word-of-mouth marketing; print advertising; and television and radio advertising.
Tags: marketing strategy, your company, your product, your marketing, your positioning, your products, communicate your