Marketing expert Chaslau Koniukh: What you need to consider before creating a marketing strategy
A marketing strategy is a detailed plan for the promotional activities that the company will carry out on various channels. It also includes general objectives, a portrait of the target audience, content creation features and other characteristics. In order to create a marketing strategy, it is necessary to follow several rules. Only then will it be maximally effective.
The following components form the basis of a marketing plan:
– marketing mix;
– objectives;
– budget;
– competitor analysis;
– targeting and positioning;
– content creation;
– KPIs.
Expert Koniukh notes, that understanding the importance of each of these points and incorporating them into the strategy will dramatically increase productivity. It also allows you to cover all aspects of the promotion to better control the process.
Marketing Mix for creating a marketing strategy
Also known as 4P marketing. It consists of 4 elements: product, price, place and promotion. Each element provides insight into the product, price point, target audience and sales opportunities.
Marketing objectives
Depend on the components of the first point. Objectives need to be as clear as possible because they have an impact on budget levels and promotion methods. They may be different for a given channel and achieved in different ways. It is important to recognise that objectives will change as the strategy evolves. They should therefore be the subject of regular review and comparison with the current market or company situation.
Marketing budget
For investments to be profitable, it is necessary to allocate a sufficient amount of money to marketing activities. All nuances should come into play. Do not save on content creation or specialists. Otherwise, the investment will not have the expected results and will be a waste of money.
Competitor analysis
Understanding your competitors allows you to create a marketing strategy as effectively as possible. It is essential to know the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors and to be able to use this information to achieve your business goals.
Targeting and positioning
In addition to these components, this includes segmentation of the target audience. This allows you to choose the most effective tools to influence consumers. It is important to take a personal approach to both customer communications and advertising. The goal is to elicit a response from the user that will allow you to move them through the sales funnel.
Brand positioning helps to increase brand awareness and differentiate the brand from the competition.
Content creation
For content to work, you need to be aware of digital marketing trends and current user needs. HubSpot’s analysis shows that about 50% of professionals consider video their preferred content type, 47% actively use images and 33% use articles. According to 30% of marketers, infographics deliver the best results, while 28% prefer audio and podcasts. At the same time, the best ROI results were for short videos.
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
You can regularly analyse the results against specific parameters to understand whether a strategy is working. Every company defines its own key performance indicators. In this case, attention is to promotion channels, sphere of activity and other peculiarities.
The development and implementation of a marketing strategy is the basis for the development and functioning of a company. However, it is only effective if each step is well thought out.
