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A marketing
strategy should be centered around the key concept that customer
satisfaction is the main goal.
Marketing strategy is a method of focusing an organization's energies and
resources on a course of action which can lead to increased sales and
dominance of a targeted market niche. A marketing strategy combines product
development, promotion, distribution, pricing, relationship management and
other elements; identifies the firm's marketing goals, and explains how they
will be achieved, ideally within a stated timeframe. Marketing strategy
determines the choice of target market segments, positioning, marketing mix,
and allocation of resources. It is most effective when it is an integral
component of overall firm strategy, defining how the organization will
successfully engage customers, prospects, and competitors in the market
arena. Corporate strategies, corporate missions, and corporate goals. As the
customer constitutes the source of a company's revenue, marketing strategy
is closely linked with sales. A key component of marketing strategy is often
to keep marketing in line with a company's overarching mission statement[4].
Basic theory:
Target Audience
Proposition/Key Element
Implementation
[edit] Tactics and actions
A marketing strategy can serve as the foundation of a marketing plan. A
marketing plan contains a set of specific actions required to successfully
implement a marketing strategy. For example: "Use a low cost product to
attract consumers. Once our organization, via our low cost product, has
established a relationship with consumers, our organization will sell
additional, higher-margin products and services that enhance the consumer's
interaction with the low-cost product or service."
A strategy consists of a well thought out series of tactics to make a
marketing plan more effective. Marketing strategies serve as the fundamental
underpinning of marketing plans designed to fill market needs and reach
marketing objectives[5]. Plans and objectives are generally tested for
measurable results.
A marketing strategy often integrates an organization's marketing goals,
policies, and action sequences (tactics) into a cohesive whole. Similarly,
the various strands of the strategy , which might include advertising,
channel marketing, internet marketing, promotion and public relations can be
orchestrated. Many companies cascade a strategy throughout an organization,
by creating strategy tactics that then become strategy goals for the next
level or group. Each one group is expected to take that strategy goal and
develop a set of tactics to achieve that goal. This is why it is important
to make each strategy goal measurable.
Marketing strategies are dynamic and interactive. They are partially planned
and partially unplanned. See strategy dynamics
Types of strategies
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Marketing strategies may differ depending on the unique situation of the
individual business. However there are a number of ways of categorizing some
generic strategies. A brief description of the most common categorizing
schemes is presented below:
Strategies based on market dominance - In this scheme, firms are classified
based on their market share or dominance of an industry. Typically there are
four types of market dominance strategies:
Leader
Challenger
Follower
Nicher
Porter generic strategies - strategy on the dimensions of strategic scope
and strategic strength. Strategic scope refers to the market penetration
while strategic strength refers to the firm’s sustainable competitive
advantage. The generic strategy framework (porter 1984) comprises two
alternatives each with two alternative scopes. These are Differentiation and
low-cost leadership each with a dimension of Focus-broad or narrow.
Product differentiation (broad)
Cost leadership (broad)
Market segmentation (narrow)
Innovation strategies - This deals with the firm's rate of the new product
development and business model innovation. It asks whether the company is on
the cutting edge of technology and business innovation. There are three
types:
Pioneers
Close followers
Late followers
Growth strategies - In this scheme we ask the question, “How should the firm
grow?”. There are a number of different ways of answering that question, but
the most common gives four answers:
Horizontal integration
Vertical integration
Diversification
Intensification
A more detailed scheme uses the categories[6]:
Prospector
Analyzer
Defender
Reactor
Marketing warfare strategies - This scheme draws parallels between marketing
strategies and military strategies.