A marketing strategy is an overall long-term plan of the business that includes the mission, vision, and objectives that the business wants to achieve and accomplish. To achieve them it is important to make and choose proper actions to have a stronger image of the products/services and/or increase the sales in the market.
The marketing strategy also helps give a more define and clearer image and identity of the product/service from the business and helps target the audience through the right forms of channels. Four elements make up the pillars of the marketing mix for a marketing strategy development- price, product, place, and promotion.
Importance Of Marketing Strategy
Creating and choosing a proper marketing strategy will lead you to all these advantages and benefits:
1. Having a clear guideline to achieve the objectives
Businesses will have numerous goals and objectives when developing a marketing strategy. However, it must be quite clear in allowing for people to work towards it in a well-organized manner.
2. Knowing your target audience:
In general, you may satisfy your audience's or customer's demands and/or wants if your company understands them.
3. Having a consistent and relevant activity:
Maintaining a regular and relevant activity will help people identify that your company, product, or service represents your brand.
4. Plan on a budget: Your businesses will save more money than you imagine with proper planning or strategy. Campaigns that catch the audience's attention and save money should be time efficient.
Differences Of Marketing Strategy Vs Marketing Plan
Before getting to know the types of marketing strategies, we need to know the differences between marketing strategy and marketing plan. Marketing strategy is just the explanation of what’s.
For instance, from the definition, what the business's objectives are or its goals. On the other hand, marketing planning is the explanation of how it will achieve or accomplish those objectives in the strategy.
Based on Ansoff (1957) the 4 types of Marketing Strategies are:
Market Penetration
Product Development
Market Development
Diversification
Market Penetration
Market penetration is when the business offers the current product to the current market. The reason why they offer the current or existing product to the current market is that the current is still relevant.
The business only needs to penetrate deeper into the market to generate more sales and profits through marketing strategies, like price and promotion. This is usually used when the business is trying to increase the amount of loyal existing customers.
Product Development
Product development is when the business offers a new product in the current or existing market. Businesses usually use this strategy when they try to offer more variations to the market to retain customers.
It gives the customers the choice of opinions to choose the products from your business instead of the competitors. And the reason why it stays in the current market is that the current one still has opportunities to explore.
For example, technology business like Apple, they keep creating new products but still places them in the current market.
Market Development
Market development is the opposite of product development. The business would use the existing product and go into the new market (e.g., international markets) in hopes of new opportunities such as getting more profits by generating more sales.
Fast food restaurants could be an example of market development. Suppose it has always changed its menus before moving into the international market. When it does, the fast-food restaurant just needs to match the menus they have made with the preference of the local customers so they could enjoy them.
This strategy requires time as the business needs to build awareness, distribution, and a product trial to see if it fits with the locals.
Diversification
Diversification is when the business offers a new product in a new market. This would give the business a new opportunity to generate sales and profits and to reduce risk in the current market. This strategy would require a lot of patience while waiting for the return of investment.