Immaculate Conception - I College of Arts and Technology

Poblacion, Sta. Maria, Bulacan

BUSINESS MARKETING

LESSON 7 - BUSINESS MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLANNING Week 13

Learning Outcomes:

1. Explain what is marketing plan;

2. Outline and describe each of the steps to strategic marketing plan;
3. Define marketing strategy; and
4. Enumerate the manner of how to create a marketing strategy and discuss each briefly.

What Is a Marketing Strategy?

A marketing strategy refers to a business’s overall plan to convince customers to
buy its products or services. A marketing strategy determines how to reach prospective
consumers and turn them into customers. It contains the company’s
 value proposition
 key brand messaging
 data on target customer demographics
 and other high-level elements.

A thorough marketing strategy covers the four Ps of marketing: product, price, place,
and promotion.
In reality when we talk of marketing strategy it consist of the following:
 It is a business’s plan for reaching prospective consumers and turning them into
customers of their products or services.
 It should revolve around a company’s value proposition and make use of unique
brand messaging.
 Its ultimate goal of a marketing strategy is to achieve and communicate a
sustainable competitive advantage over rival companies.
 A marketing strategy is a big-picture idea that informs smaller, short-term
marketing plans.

In a nut shell marketing strategies should revolve around the firm’s value proposition.
This needs to be communicated to consumers, that is what the company stands for,
how it operates and why it deserves to customers’ business. A necessity of marketing
teams must be available to inform the reasons across with reference to the firm’s
products and services.

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 Immaculate Conception - I College of Arts and Technology
Poblacion, Sta. Maria, Bulacan

BUSINESS MARKETING

The fundamental of doing this is to sustain their competitive advantage over their
competitors. In doing so, the firm needs to communicate it irrespective of the mode on
how it will reach its customers. This may be in the form of ad design or social media
campaign or the use of social media influencers.

Marketing Strategies vs Marketing Plans

The marketing strategy is outlined in the marketing plan. This is a document that
details the specific types of marketing activities a company will conduct in a given
timeframe. It contains important information such as what the current and near-future
marketing initiatives will be, how they will be conducted, what their goals are, and the
timetables for enacting them. A company may have separate marketing initiatives for
each of its products or services; it may also have multiple marketing initiatives for the
same product or service that are implemented at different times or on different
platforms.

Marketing strategies inform a business's marketing across many verticals and over a
longer period of time. These strategies should ideally have longer life spans than
individual marketing plans because they contain value propositions and other key
elements of a company’s brand, which generally hold constant over the long haul.

How to Create a Marketing Strategy

Crafting a through and effective marketing strategy requires several steps. These are:
1. Identify goals
Although the end line goal is creating sales, other short-term goals may also be
considered:
1.1. Establishing authority
1.2. Increasing customer engagement
1.3. Generating leads
2. Create a Customer Profile
Whatever is to be sold or offered (service or good) it is essential that the team
must be equipped with:
2.1. Who they are
2.2. What they are interested in
2.3. What problems they want to solve
2.4. What is holding them back from solving such problem/s
2.5. What solutions do competitors offer to them
2.6. What type of media are ideal to reach them

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 Immaculate Conception - I College of Arts and Technology
Poblacion, Sta. Maria, Bulacan

BUSINESS MARKETING

3. Develop a Message
This entail on informing to the customers as to the problem they have that needs
to be solved and something that is standing in the way of that solution. Create a
message on how your product or service will solve their problem and improve
their lives. This should be different from what the competitors are providing .

4. Define Your Budget

The manner on how the message is circulated depend on how much the firm
can afford. You may consider the following questions to assess the funds
needed:
4.1. Will the firm be using advertising?
4.2. Working with influencers?
4.3. Use of press releases to the media to gain coverage?
5. Select the Channels
In identifying the mode, the need to consider first should be that it need to be
communicated with the appropriate medium and selecting the best channel.
The effort must focus on:
5.1. Who the customers are
5.2. Who they trust
5.3. Type of media they consume
5.4. The budget you have to work with
6. Track Measurable Benchmarks
It is indispensable for the team to know the target audience are reached.
Provide the appropriate parameters and how it is to be evaluated and measure.
The following barometers are employable:
6.1. New leads
6.2. Customer signups
6.3. Revenue
6.4. Sales of an individual product
6.5. Social media followers
6.6. Customer retention
6.7. New accounts opened

What is Strategic Marketing Planning

Strategic marketing planning is the process of writing and following a plan to reach a
specific marketing goal. Companies may develop strategic marketing plans to increase
revenue and profits, achieve greater visibility , discourage competitors or improve their
appearance through a total rebranding. Management and operations teams work
together it identify the goal, outline the steps, assign tasks and measure the success of
the effort. They may revise their steps over time, but they begin with a research-
backed, practical plan in place.
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 Immaculate Conception - I College of Arts and Technology
Poblacion, Sta. Maria, Bulacan

BUSINESS MARKETING

A marketing plan is:

 A practical and detailed document tactics (methods)
of the execution actions
 Sets realistic and measurable activities of controls

Benefits of a documented plan

 Takes the guesswork out the marketing
 Keep the marketing activities targeted
 Endures that using monitor will lead to success

Steps to a Strategic Marketing Plan

1. Find the starting place.

In here, the team members starts with a basic question – What does the
company exist to do? The company’s mission statement and niche market can
be the starting point, then reflect what have been accomplished and what is
upcoming. In order to be accurate in assessing the firm’s current situation, the
conduct of a SWOT analysis will be useful to gauge the company’s current
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. From here, the team can
determine what opportunities are available and achievable.

2. Conduct market research.

After a review has been made relative to the firm’s mission and status, compare
the finding obtained to others in the same market. If the competitors posed
similar threats, the research to be performed will be focus on how do these
competitors able to engage with customers. If it will be a new product to be
launch, there is need to search how many competitors/companies released
similar products previously so as you will able to differ in your approach. Do not
forget, the need
to know who the customers are be reviewed again. A survey may be use or
even go to the extent of inviting some buyers to participate as a focus group
concerning the existing product. Questions may be utilized like:
 Where did you find our product?
 How do you use it?
 Would these changes improve your experience?
The above questions may aid you in identifying opportunities missed. (market
analysis)

3. Define a target audience.

Make a profile of your average customer including their needs and complaints.
Likewise, determine their age range, where they live, family size, job title,
lifestyle choices, money habits and other identifying qualities. Added to this,
consideration may be the behavioral characteristics they have like resilience,
curiosity and sensitivity towards others. Consideration may also account for
areas where customers spends their money (gyms, theatre, malls)
 Immaculate Conception - I College of Arts and Technology
Poblacion, Sta. Maria, Bulacan

BUSINESS MARKETING

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4. Set a measurable goal.
Whatever is the reason for doing a plan like improve brand awareness, drive
more sales, increase customer engagement or enter a new market, the need to
assess the development of the marketing plan, setting goal/s must be made. In
here, use SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time –
bound). This will enable you to visualize the goals, assigned them to the
appropriate team members and use them as an ongoing source of focus and
motivation. Another thing, it may also result for the team to discover flaw/s in
the plan. Once discovered, correction may be made and push through in the
process.

5. Get budget approval.

Subject to the firm’s resources and processes, the need to obtain a budget,
have it approved once the marketing strategies has been decided. The
strategies is determined what is financially realistic aligned with the marketing
goals set. Other areas may also be considered like other departments’ costs
and most significantly the expected return on investment (ROI).

6. Decide on a mix strategies.

Of the strategies to be use, it is of advantageous to use the 4Ps of Marketing
method namely:
6.1. Product – this focus on the value you can give to the customers and this
compares to the competitors approach. You may employ the strategy
adaptable using the following questions:
 What is the product and how does it help?
 Who needs the product and how will they use it?
 How does the product differ from competitor products?
6.2. Price – the pricing strategy can be determined by the amount the
customer is willing to pay, current market conditions, competitors’ pricing
structures and production costs. Some of the questions usable are:
 How sensitive is the customer to pricing?
 Will a price decrease or discount affect the product’s perceived
value?
 What is the price range of similar products?
6.3. Promotion – this refers to the means use to educate the customers on the
value of the product you intend to sell/produce and how it solves their
problem. Questions for this include:
 What marketing channel does the target audience use the most,
and when are they likely to buy it?
 Where can the messages be marketed?
 How are the competitors promote their products?
6.4. Place – this involve distributing the product to the customer in the easiest,
most enjoyable manner. Questions to be considered are:
 Immaculate Conception - I College of Arts and Technology
Poblacion, Sta. Maria, Bulacan

BUSINESS MARKETING

 Where do customers search for products and how will they

discover you?
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 What channels of distribution will reach your target market?

 Which channels are your competitors using and how can you do
better?

7. Craft a detailed schedule and begin.

Provide a clear expectations for each member included in the preparation and
completion to the plan, including the target dates for reviews. It is essential that
one of the team leader be charged for the details and delegate if necessary.
When it is time to measure and evaluate the success of the strategies employed
and possible revision of the goals, you can meet the team leaders rather than
the entire group.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketing-strategy.asp
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/strategic-marketing-planning
 Immaculate Conception - I College of Arts and Technology
Poblacion, Sta. Maria, Bulacan

BUSINESS MARKETING

https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/marketing-sales/marketing/strategy-anning/
writing-strategy-plan
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