Your marketing strategy is your business’s game plan for reaching potential customers and turning them into actual customers who pay for your services or products.
Your marketing strategy will include a number of core elements such as a value proposition (a concise statement of the benefits that your company will deliver to customers), your key brand messaging, and data on your target customers. A clear marketing strategy will revolve around your company’s value proposition. This provides your marketing team with a clear template to inform their decisions when creating content and promotional materials.
A thorough marketing strategy should cover the core elements of the marketing mix (also known as the four Ps of marketing) – Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
The ultimate goal of your marketing strategy is to achieve and communicate a sustainable competitive advantage over your rivals.
IMPORTANT: Your marketing strategy shouldn’t be confused with your marketing plan.
There’s a key difference between the two – your marketing strategy outlines what you’ve identified that your company needs to achieve its goals. Your marketing plan outlines the steps you’ll need to take to achieve those goals.
Your marketing strategy should have a longer shelf life than individual marketing plans, because they contain your company’s value proposition and other key elements linked to your company’s brand which typically remain unchanged over a greater period of time.
To summarize, your marketing strategy covers the big-picture messaging, while your marketing plan sets out the specific logistical details of a specific campaign.