Marketing strategy is a term you’re probably very familiar with, but might find hard to explain.
One of my goals as a strategic marketing consultant is to demystify marketing so that more organisations can benefit from the clarity and cost savings a strategic approach provides. So, here goes…
In simple terms, marketing strategy can be described as the where and how; where you want to go and how your marketing is going to get you there. Marketing tactics on the other hand are the what and when; the things you’re going to do to achieve the goals.
At its heart, strategy is about understanding the end customer, the competition, and the organisation before trying to connect with them. Without this understanding, marketing tactics can be shots in the dark, wasted resource.
To use an analogy, your website is to marketing strategy what your laptop is to broadband; it’s one tool that can help you connect, but without the fibre running to your office it won’t have much reach. Your mobile hotspot might boost it temporarily, but its potential is finite – as is a website with no strategy to drive or follow up enquiries.
Marketing without a strategy is effectively like trying to access broadband without a router; it’s never going to connect.
I also liken marketing strategy to cheesecake in that without a firm base or the right mix of ingredients, it simply won’t hold up. However, if you consider what’s needed before getting to work marketing will seem like a piece of cake.
Another way to explain it, to use a seasonal analogy, is with holiday packing. There are two main types of packer: the last minute, shove it all in, hope it doesn’t break the scale type, or the type who does their research, makes a list of what they (and everyone else in the house) need and weighs everything up first. Which type is more relaxed at the airport? (Ok, that’s a trick question – it’s still the last-minute packer; the other one is checking in, messaging the transfer company and sorting the passports).
The point is, we often have a more strategic approach to decisions in our home life than those in our professional life.
If we can apply that approach to marketing, then strategy becomes more straightforward.
Most of us are already following the principles of marketing strategy in our everyday decisions:
- Thinking about the circumstances that might impact it (Broadband: will this be more reliable? Will the cost go up?)
- Understanding the challenge (Baking: Is this a cheesecake people will want to eat?)
- Making a plan that addresses your needs (Packing: Check weather forecast, pack X number of outfits, ask X for help)
When it comes to business, marketing strategy is often put off in favour of getting on with one or two tactics that deliver limited results.
For example, an organisation that invests in content marketing without mapping out the whole customer journey finds that the content isn’t delivering the leads they’d anticipated. Or a business achieves a good number of clicks on paid social ads, then discovers most of those clicks aren’t converting because the messaging isn’t aligned. Another finds they convert a high proportion of new event-generated leads but start losing existing customers who are disatisfied with the customer service.
A strategic approach to marketing helps to avoid issues by focusing on the bigger picture
It’s seeking to understand the customer before developing the plan to reach them and understanding the context the organisation is operating in before taking action.
It’s reflecting on the ‘where?’ and ‘how?’ before planning the ‘what’ and ‘when’, connecting the dots between what you want to achieve and achieving it.
Marketing without a strategy, on the other hand, is like icing a cake before you’ve baked it, cramming anything and everything into your suitcase or buying a laptop without giving broadband a second thought.
When you think of it like that, why would you?